Østmarka is a forested area to the east of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and part of the congregation of woodland areas known as

Oslomarka Marka is the name of the forested and hilly areas surrounding Oslo, Norway. It includes areas within the municipality of Oslo, but also large areas in Hole, Ringerike, Jevnaker, Lunner, Nittedal, Bærum, Asker, and other municipalities in Viken co ...

. The area is situated within the municipalities Oslo,

Lørenskog is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. A suburb of Oslo, it is part of the Oslo urban area and the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrati ...

Rælingen Rælingen is a village and municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fjerdingby. Rælingen was separated from the municip ...

Ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

and

Enebakk Enebakk is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kirkebygda. The parish of ''Enebak'' was established as a municipalit ...

. Østmarka is delimited to the west by populated areas of Oslo, to the north of communities of

Skårer Skårer is a village in Akershus, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. T ...

and

and to the east by the lake

Øyeren Øyeren is a lake in the Glomma River watershed, southeast of Lillestrøm. It is located within the municipalities of Enebakk, Skedsmo, Fet, and Rælingen in Akershus county and Spydeberg and Trøgstad municipalities in Østfold county. Lake Øy ...

, to the south-east lies Enebakk and to the south-west Sørmarka, another forested area. The change from Østmarka to Sørmarka takes place at the lake Langen. Østmarka is marked by its location on top of

basement rock In geology, basement and crystalline basement are crystalline rocks lying above the mantle and beneath all other rocks and sediments. They are sometimes exposed at the surface, but often they are buried under miles of rock and sediment. The baseme ...

(more than 1 billion years old) containing easy-to-see folds that make up valleys and hills in the north-south direction. For this reason the terrain has a lot of hills, no matter where one goes. Along the upper marine border (about 210 meters) the ice of the last ice age has left large amounts of gravel and sand. Sand, Sandbakken ("Sandy Hill"), Sandbekken ("Sandy Creek") and Grusbakken ("Gravel Hill") are all on about the same elevation. The sand mines at Ødegården have been left there by the ice. Beach snails have been found at Lutvann at an elevation of 200 meters.

Nature reserve

Østmarka nature reserve has an area of 18 square kilometers. It received its status in 1990 and was expanded in 2002. The purpose of the protection is the conservation of a substantial, relatively untouched

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

along with plant and animal life typical for this part of Oslomarka, and which has particular scientific and educational significance. The bulk of the reserve is located in Rausjømarka and is owned by the municipalities Oslo, Lørenskog and Rælingen.

Farms, cabins and restaurants in Østmarka

*Mariholtet * Østmarkskapellet *Rustadsaga * Skullerudstua * Sandbakken * Vangen * Losby * Larsbråten * Skjelbreia

Highest peaks

(•) signifies that the trigonometric point is not situated on the peak's highest point.

Largest lakes

Plank Road

During the period when small sawmills were being increasingly used throughout the forests of Oslomarka and the timber export became a substantial industry - from ca 1750 and well into the 19th century - this engendered a big need for transportation. In Østmarka alone there were over 2,000 drivers and 4-5000 horses occupied with moving

plank Plank may refer to: *Plank (wood), flat, elongated, and rectangular timber with parallel faces *Plank (exercise), an isometric exercise for the abdominal muscles * Martins Creek (Kentucky), the location of Plank post office * ''The Plank'' (1967 fi ...

s between Øyeren and Kristiania (today Oslo). It was too long to drive from Enebakk via

and Strømsveien to get to Kristiania. This is why the Plank Road was built. The Plank Road starts at Eikeberg and Børter in Enebakk - it crosses the ice on Børtervann and moves up to Rausjø and turns up towards Vangen and Skjelbreia, further over Eriksvann, Søndre Skytten, Elvåga, across to Nøklevann, Rustadsaga,

Østensjøvannet Østensjøvannet () is a lake located in the Østensjø borough in Oslo, Norway. It is well known for the wide variety of birds and other wildlife that can be found there. It is currently a wildlife preserve, though urban development posed a ser ...

and down to the city. The Plank Road is today open and tagged as a ski track.

References

Other sources

*''Østmarka fra A til Å'', by Even Saugstad, .

External links

*
Presentation of Østmarka in the Marka database
from Skiforeningen {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostmarka Geography of Oslo Geography of Akershus Forests and woodlands of Norway Marka, Oslo Plank road