The Gaula is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

that flows through the

Gauldal Gauldal or Gauldalen ( en, Gaula River valley) is a valley and traditional district in Trøndelag county, Norway. The river Gaula runs through the long valley from the Røros mountains near the lake Aursunden to the Trondheimsfjorden. The n ...

valley in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The long river is the largest in

Central Norway Central Norway ( nb, Midt-Norge, nn, Midt-Noreg) is an informal region of Norway that is not clearly defined. The term ''Central Norway'' may in its most limited usage refer only to Trøndelag county, but may also be understood to include all or ...

. The river begins in

Holtålen Holtålen is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is located in the Ålen area of the village of Renbygda. Other villages in the municipality include Hess ...

municipality near the mountain Kjølifjellet. It then flows through the municipalities of

Midtre Gauldal Midtre Gauldal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Støren. Other villages in the municipality include Singsås, Soknedal, Enodden, an ...

, and

Melhus Melhus is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Melhus. Other villages include Gåsbakken, Hovin, Korsvegen, Kvål, Ler, Lundamo, St ...

before emptying into

Trondheimsfjord The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from the municipality of Ørland in ...

near

Leinstrand Leinstrand is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality of Leinstrand encompassed the south-central ...

on the border between the municipalities of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

and

. The Gaula River is approximately long and it drains a watershed of about . On its way, it is joined by one large

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

, the Sokna, at the village of

Støren is the administrative centre of Midtre Gauldal municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located in the Gauldalen valley at the confluence of the rivers Gaula and ''Sokna''. Støren is located on the European route E06 highway ...

. Other smaller tributaries include the ''Rugla'', ''Hesja'', ''Holda'', ''Forda'', and ''Bua''. The average flow of water is about . Within the Gaula River, there are two well known

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s called ''Gaulfoss'' close to the village of Hovin and the ''Eggafoss'' near the village of

Haltdalen Haltdalen is a village in Holtålen municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the river Gaula, about northwest of the village of Renbygda and about southwest of the village of Aunegrenda. The village of Haltdale ...

. In 2005, the Gaula was named the best

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fishing river in Norway with a catch of that year. In 2008, it had a catch of . The Gaula is consistently listed among the top 5 salmon fishing rivers in Norway.

References

External links

NFC Fishing on the GaulaGaula Naturecenter
Rivers of Trøndelag Holtålen Midtre Gauldal Melhus Rivers of Norway {{Norway-river-stub