Trollstigen (or trollstigvegen; en, The troll path) is a
serpentine mountain road and pass in
Rauma Municipality
Rauma is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre is the town of Åndalsnes. Other settlements in Rauma include the villages of Måndalen, Innfjorden, Vebl ...
,
Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...
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 ...
.
It is part of
Norwegian County Road 63
Norwegian County Road 63 ( no, Fylkesvei 63 or ) is a Norwegian county road in Møre og Romsdal county and a very small part in Innlandet county, Norway. It begins at Norwegian National Road 15 along the lake Langvatnet in Skjåk Municipality in ...
that connects the town of
Ã…ndalsnes
is a town in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is in the administrative center of Rauma Municipality. It is located along the Isfjorden, at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the north end of the Romsdalen valley. ...
in Rauma and the village of
Valldal
Sylte or Valldal is a village in Fjord Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is situated at the southern end of the Valldalen valley along the shore of the Norddalsfjorden near the mouth of the Valldøla river, just west of ...
in
Norddal Municipality
Norddal is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It merged with Stordal municipality to establish the new Fjord municipality in 2020. It covered the easternmost part of the Sunnmøre region along the border with Oppland co ...
. It is a popular tourist attraction due to its steep incline of 10% and eleven
hairpin bend
A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hai ...
s up a steep mountainside. During the top tourist season, about 2,500 vehicles pass daily. During the 2012 season, 161,421 vehicles traversed the route, compared to 155,230 vehicles during 2009.
[Adresseavisen, 10 November 2012.]
The road is narrow with many sharp bends, and although several bends were widened during 2005 to 2012, vehicles over long are prohibited from driving the road. During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, buses up to were temporarily allowed as a trial. At the plateau there is a
car park
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surfac ...
and several viewing balconies overlooking the bends and the Stigfossen waterfall. Stigfossen falls down the mountainside. The pass has an elevation of approximately .
''Trollstigen'' is closed during late autumn and winter. A normal operating season stretches from mid-May to October, but may sometimes be shorter or longer due to weather conditions.
Etymology
Trollstigen means ''the troll path'' or ''troll trail'', from the Norwegian ''stig'' (also spelled ''sti''), from Old Norse ''stigr''.
History
Trollstigen was opened on 31 July 1936, by King
Haakon VII
Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957.
Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...
after eight years of construction.
A major tourist facility including a restaurant was completed in 2012. Several viewing platforms have been constructed and older constructions improved upon. ''Trollstigen'' (along with County Road 63) was officially opened as a
national tourist route by the
Minister of Transport and Communications on 16 June 2012. ''Trollstigen'' itself (and the alpine summits to the west) lies within the ''Trollstigen landscape protection area'', while the alpine area east of Trollstigen, including the
Trolltindene range, is part of
Reinheimen National Park
Reinheimen National Park ( no, Reinheimen nasjonalpark) is a national park in Norway that was established in 2006. The park consists of a continuous protected mountain area. It is located in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties in Norway. The ...
.
In the summer of 2005, the road was repaired and about was spent on protection against rockfall, making the road safer to drive on.
In June 2021,
Telia Norge
Telia Norge AS, formerly NetCom AS, is a Norwegian mobile phone operator. Founded in 1993, it is the second largest mobile phone operator in Norway. The company has about 1.641 million subscribers (April 2013), and the company headquarters are l ...
commissioned an eco-friendly
mobile base station
A base transceiver station (BTS) is a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment (UE) and a network. UEs are devices like mobile phones (handsets), WLL phones, computers with wireless Internet connectivity, o ...
powered entirely by solar, wind and hydrogen, therefore providing mobile phone coverage at Trollstigen for the first time ever.
Opening and closing dates
Gallery
File:2012-07 Trollstigen besøkssenter.jpg, Trollstigen Visitor Center
File:2012-07 Trollstigen besøkssenter 2.jpg, Trollstigen visitor center, with souvenir shops and toilets
File:Trollstigen Norwegen.jpg, Stigrøra with souvenir sale. In the background the rock formation Trollklørne.
File:Riksvei 63, Border of Rauma and Norddal.JPG, Alnesreset - the highest point on the mountain pass and municipal boundary.
File:Trollstigen; Wasserfall & Brücke Norwegen.JPG, Stigfossen with Stigfossbrua seen from below.
File:Trollstigrennet -Tidlig på 50 tallet m Stein Eriksen.jpg, From Trollstigrennet around 1952 (Stein Eriksen
Stein Eriksen (11 December 1927 – 27 December 2015) was an alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Norway. Following his racing career, he was a ski school director and ambassador at various resorts in the United States.
Background
E ...
with ski pole).
File:Trollveggen 2002 June.jpg, Trollryggen
Trollryggen is a peak along the Trolltindene ridge along the Romsdalen valley. It is located in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The Rauma River and the European route E136 highway lie just to the east of the ridge at the b ...
mountains, located between Romsdalen
Romsdalen is a valley in the western part of Norway. The long valley runs through Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county. It is the valley of the Rauma river, from Old Norse word ''Raumsdalr'' w ...
and Trollstigen.
File:Overtakelsesbrev.jpg, Acception Document for Trollstigvegen in Romsdal signed by Haakon VII (31 July 1936)
File:Trollstigen nybygg.JPG, The visitor center just before the official opening (16 June 2012)
File:Christie Trollstigen 210808 justert (25 of 34).jpg, Works on the viewing platform (2008)
File:Troll_skiltet_Trollstigen.jpg, Trollstigen road signs
File:Steinst%C3%B8tte_Valldal-Trollstigen_2.jpg, Memorial stone with the text "King HÃ¥kon built this road in 1936"
File:Steinst%C3%B8tte_Valldal-Trollstigen_1.jpg, Memorial stone
File:TrollstigenNorway01.jpg, Viewpoint
File:TrollstigenNorway02.jpg, Viewpoint
File:TrollstigenNorway03.jpg, View from the platform
File:TrollstigenNorway04.jpg, View from the platform
File:TrollstigenNorway05.jpg, Viewpoint
File:TrollstigenNorway06.jpg, Viewpoint
File:TrollstigenNorway07.jpg, The river
File:TrollstigenNorway08.jpg, The river
File:TrollstigenNorway09.jpg, The river under the viewing platform
File:TrollstigenNorway10.jpg,
File:TrollstigenNorway11.jpg, The road down seen from the viewing platform
File:TrollstigenNorway12.jpg, Waterfall
File:TrollstigenNorway15.jpg, Traffic jam
File:TrollstigenNorway16.jpg, Traffic jam
File:Trollstigvegen01.jpg, Trollstiggen
File:Trollstigvegen02.jpg, Stigfossen
File:Trollstigvegen03.jpg, Trollstiggen
File:Trollstigvegen04.jpg, Trollstiggen near Stigfossen
See also
*
List of highest paved roads in Europe
This is a list of the highest paved roads in Europe. It includes roads that are over long and whose culminating point is at least above sea level. This height approximately corresponds to that of the highest settlements in Europe and to the t ...
*
List of mountain passes
This is a list of mountain passes.
Africa
Egypt
* Halfaya Pass (near Libya)
Lesotho
* Moteng Pass
* Mahlasela pass
* Sani Pass
Morocco
* Tizi n'Tichka
South Africa
* Eastern Cape Passes
* Western Cape Passes
* Northern Cape Passes
* Kwa ...
*
List of waterfalls
This list of notable waterfalls of the world is sorted by continent, then country, then province, state or territory. A waterfall is included if it has an existing article specifically for it on Wikipedia, and it is at least high, or the fa ...
*
Stelvio Pass
''Giogo dello Stèlvio''german: Stilfser Joch
, photo = The_Stelvio_pass.jpg
, photo_caption = Some of the 48 hairpin turns near the top of the eastern ramp of the Stelvio Pass
, photo_alt =
, map = Alps
, map_caption = Location of Stelvio Pass in ...
*
Transfăgărășan
The Transfăgărășan (''trans'' + ''Făgăraș'') or DN7C is a paved mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It has national-road ranking and is the second-highest paved road in the country after th ...
References
External links
See 360° VR panorama of Trollstigen heret
Google Earth view
{{coord, 62, 28, N, 7, 40, E, display=title
Geography of Møre og Romsdal
Roads in Møre og Romsdal
Norwegian County Road 63
Rauma, Norway