Reiårsfossen is a tall

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 severa ...

Setesdal Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the ...

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 the ...

. The waterfall is located along the

Norwegian National Road 9 Norwegian National Road 9 ( no, Riksvei 9, ) is often called the ''Setesdal Road'' ( no, Setesdalsveien) and it is the main thoroughfare through the Setesdalen valley. It runs from the city of Kristiansand in the southern coast of Norway, throu ...

, just south of the village of Ose in the municipality of

Bygland Bygland is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Setesdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bygland. Other villages in the municipality include Åraksbø, Austad, ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county. The waterfall flows down into a short stream before emptying into the northern end of the Åraksfjorden. The area, which contains several of creeks and rivers, was protected by law in 1973.

The legend

Reiårsfossen got its name because one of the workmen's sons, ''Reiår'' (old spelling for Reidar), had fallen in love with a ''farm girl'' in Ose. To have her, the farmer had the condition that he should ride over the top of the falls three times. He did this, but the legend goes on to say that he wanted to take one more trip over the falls in honor of his upcoming wedding. This (fourth) trip, however, had fatal consequences, and both the horse and Reiår fell down and died.

Camping, fishing and country music

The waterfall has become a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

and there is a public campground, Camp Reiårsfossen, just to the east on the shores of the Åraksfjorden. This campground holds annual festivals and events such as the Ose Country Festival (

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

) and also a fishing festival. There is a full-year

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

to the top of the falls and further inland to the lake Reiårsvann.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiaarsfossen Setesdal Landforms of Agder Waterfalls of Norway Tourist attractions in Agder Bygland