Sjodalen is a wide, gently sloping

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 ...

in Southern Norway, draining the eastern parts of

Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...

. The river

Sjoa The Sjoa is a river in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through the municipalities of Vågå and Sel and it provides the outlet from lake Gjende at Gjendesheim in the Jotunheimen mountains of Norway's Jotunheim National Park. The r ...

gives its name to the valley. Sjodalen is generally accepted to start at the outlet from the deep mountain-lake

Gjende Gjende or Gjendin is a lake in Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Jotunheimen mountain range and also inside Jotunheimen National Park. The proglacial lake shows typical characteristics of glacial formation, ...

. The valley's lower end-point is, however less defined as the valley is named

Heidal Heidal or Heidalen is a valley in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The U-shaped valley follows the river Sjoa which begins in the nearby Jotunheimen mountains eastward until it joins the Gudbrandsdalslågen river in the main valley ...

east of Randsverk. Perhaps the most easy definition is to state that the valley draining

is named Sjodalen in

Vågå Vågå () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo. Other village areas in Vågå include Lalm and Besshei ...

and Heidal in

Sel Sel is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Otta. The municipality also includes several notable villages including ...

municipalities.

History

The valley was traditionally used for summer farming. What is particular for the valley is the size and state of these summer farms ('' sæter'' in Norwegian). This is partly caused by the very rare tradition of winter-farming in this region. Rather than bringing the summer harvest down into the village and main farm, the farmers took the animals back up into the mountains during winter. This could be done due to the limited snow-fall in this continental climate regime. The perhaps best-known tourist site in Sjodalen itself is ''Ridderspranget''. This canyon's name means Knight's Leap and originated with the legend of Sigvat Kvie from

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...

, one of the King Haakon Magnusson's knights (''riddar''). Sigvat jumped across the river Sjoa at this narrow point in the canyon, with a beautiful girl from

. He had freed her from Ivar Gjesling successfully taking his love to

.''Ridderspranget'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>

Geography

In the valley-floor and low valley sides the landscape is dominated by

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, the highest pine-forest of

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 ...

. Above the pine-forest and 150 m wide birch-zone before the alpine bush-vegetations leads into the higher mountains. The western side of Sjodalen is defined by the Jotun

nappe In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock (geology), rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision z ...

, the escarpment that define the

Jotunheimen National Park Jotunheimen National Park ( no, Jotunheimen nasjonalpark, "Home of the Giants") is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country's premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers and is part of the larger area Jotunhe ...

and these mountains reach above 2000 m above sea level. The river Sjoa feeds two

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s on its progress down the valley:

Øvre Sjodalsvatnet Øvre Sjodalsvatnet is a lake in Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Jotunheimen mountain range. The lake is located on the river Sjoa, just outside the boundary of Jotunheimen National Park. The Maurvangen cam ...

and

Nedre Sjodalsvatnet Nedre may refer to: *Nedre Eggedal, village in Sigdal municipality, Norway *Nedre Eiker, municipality in Buskerud county, Norway *Nedre Elvehavn, borough of Trondheim, Norway *Nedre Fagervollvatnet, Norwegian lake that lies in Rana municipality in ...

. The Sjoa river is a popular place for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

, and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

. Sjoa river is protected, as is the landscape surrounding the river. Restrictions are therefore set on camping near the river. Several traditional places to spend the night exists, including Randsverk camping, Hindsæter,

Bessheim {{coord, 61, 30, 53, N, 8, 51, 12, E, type:landmark_region:NO_scale:5000, display=title Bessheim is a mountain lodge in Sjodalen and is situated 964 metres above sea level next to Øvre Sjodalsvatnet on the mountain passage between Valdres and Gudbr ...

Maurvangen Maurvangen is a campground by Øvre Sjodalsvatnet and a short distance from Gjendesheim. There are 26 cabins as well as camping spots for tents and caravans. A service building contains toilets, shower rooms, sauna, and a washing machine. It is ...

and

Gjendesheim Gjendesheim Turisthytte has been a staffed lodge with Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (In Norwegian, Den Norske Turistforening – DNT) Oslo og Omegn as proprietor since 1878, and is located in the heart of the Norwegian mountains. The lodge ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Ridderspranget (The Knight's Leap)
Valleys of Innlandet