Hessdalen is a village in the municipality of

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 ...

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,

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 ...

. Hessdalen also refers to the long valley that surrounds the village. Hessdalen is located in the central part of the village, approximately south of the city 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 ...

, approximately north of the mining town of Røros, and about southwest of the village of

Renbygda Renbygda is the administrative centre of the municipality of Holtålen in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Gaula River and the Rørosbanen railway line, about north of the town of Røros and about southeast of the ...

. About 150 people live in the village and surrounding valley.

Hessdalen Church Hessdalen Church ( no, Hessdalen kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Holtålen municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hessdalen. It is the church for the Hessdalen parish which is part of the Ga ...

is located in the village of Hessdalen and the lake

Øyungen Øyungen is a lake in the municipality of Holtålen in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake lies about southwest of the village of Hessdalen. The Forollhogna National Park surrounds the lake on three sides. Name The first part of the name is ...

lies about southwest of the village. The Hessdalen area is known for the occurrence of unexplained aerial luminous phenomena called the

Hessdalen light The Hessdalen lights are unidentified lights observed in a stretch of the Hessdalen valley in rural central Norway. Background The Hessdalen lights are of unknown origin. They appear both by day and by night, and seem to float through and abov ...

s. The phenomenon is monitored by the

Hessdalen AMS The Hessdalen Automatic Measurement Station (or Hessdalen AMS) is an automatically working observation station in the Hessdalen area in the municipality of Holtålen in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is used for registering Hessdalen lights. It has ...

Name

The first element is the name of the local river ''Hesja'' and the last element is the definite form of ''dal'', which means " dale" or "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

References

Holtålen Valleys of Trøndelag Villages in Trøndelag {{Trøndelag-geo-stub