Trollheimen is a mountain range in

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 t ...

and

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 Denma ...

counties 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 ...

in central

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. The mountain range is part of the

Scandinavian Mountains The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, forming the fjords of Norway, whereas to th ...

Etymology

The name ('the home of the trolls') was proposed by Håkon Løken and used by Trondhjems Turistforening in the 1880s, and is considered a "tourist name" (there was no single name for the entire area before). Trollheimen is now the common name in Norway for this mountain range.

Topography and climate

Trollheimen is often considered the most varied of all mountain ranges in Norway for several reasons. The mountains in the western part are alpine in form, with pointed peaks and typical river valleys. The mountains in the east are less steep with more rounded shapes predominating, and the valleys are wider and bear the mark of being created by glaciers. The climate differs from the more

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

in the west to a considerably drier, continental climate in the eastern valleys, due to their being sheltered by mountains. The valleys in Trollheimen are at an altitude of only about and are usually forested, and many are used as pastures ( no, seterdrift). There are also several large lakes, like Gjevilvatnet in the east, near Oppdal, and Gråsjøen and Foldsjøen in the northern part. The highest peaks are in the southwestern part:

Trolla Trolla is a village in the municipality of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Midtbyen borough, along the Trondheimsfjord on the north coast of the Bymarka area. It is about northeast of the village of Langørjan a ...

(),

Dronningkrona Dronningkrona is a tall mountain peak in Sunndal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is one of the two peaks on the main mountain Vinnufjellet. Its neighbor peak is Kongskrona, which reaches higher. The peak is located just ...

(), Kongskrona (), Såtbakkollen (), Storsomrungnebba (). In the northern and eastern part, the highest are Snota (), Trollhetta (), and Blåhø (). In the southeast there is Kråkvasstind ().

Flora

Trollheimen is known by

botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that auth ...

for the diverse alpine

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

, due to nutrient-rich soil and the varied climate within the mountain range. One of the rare

alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial grass ...

s in Trollheimen is

Artemisia norvegica ''Artemisia norvegica'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names alpine sagewort, boreal sagewort, mountain sagewort, Norwegian mugwort, arctic wormwood, and spruce wormwood.Taylor, Jane E. (2006)''Artemisia ...

. Approximately of this area is declared a nature reserve. In the midst of the area is the Svartåmoen forest reserve, with undisturbed

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

forest, mixed with

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

Innerdalen Innerdalen is a valley in Sunndal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. In 1967, the valley was established as Norway's first nature reserve. The valley and nature reserve begins at the village of Ålvundeidet by the Norwegian Natio ...

, in the western part, was Norway's first nature reserve, and is sometimes described as the most beautiful valley in Norway.

Recreation

The "Triangle" ( no, Trekanten) is a route between the three mountain lodges (''Gjevilvasshytta'', ''Jøldalshytta'' and ''Trollheimshytta'') each a fairly long

hike Hike may refer to: * Hiking, walking lengthy distances in the countryside or wilderness * Hiking (sailing), moving a sailor's body weight as far to windward (upwind) as possible, in order to counteract the force of the wind pushing sideways again ...

of about 7 to 9 hours. It is possible to choose a route covering the three peaks of Trollhetta, a spectacular (but long) hike comparable to the Besseggen route in

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 hike to the peak of Snota is often considered one of the most beautiful in Norway. There are

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

in most of the lakes. Except in winter, Gjevilvasshytta can be reached by car, while Jøldalshytta is an easy hike from the nearest road (''Jølhaugen''). Trollheimshytta is a long hike from any road, in the summer one can park by Gråsjøen and hike 11–12 km. There are several other smaller lodges as well, and many more marked routes.

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, an ...

is roughly one hour drive from the nearest part of the mountain range (Jølhaugen or Resvatn). Gjevilvasshytta is the oldest DNT lodge in Norway, with timber from 1739, and widely regarded as one of the prettiest

.

Archeology

Trollheimen seems to be one of the first areas in Norway to be clear of ice at the close of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. There are several traces of stone age people using the mountains as a hunting ground, particularly stone "fences" used to channel scared reindeer herds towards cliffs, where some would fall off and die. These "fences" seem to be very old, as some angles seems to have been blocked by remnants of the ice sheet. Thus, these hunters might have been among the first wave of humans migrating to Norway. In addition, since 1997 there have been many unusually long and warm summers, and the

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s in Trollheimen and Dovre have retreated, revealing many prehistoric

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

s. Some are 4,000 years old or more, but the majority is 1,000–2,000 years old. These hunters probably migrated down to the fjords to the west (Sunndalsfjord, Surnadalsfjord, Todalsfjord) to avoid the harsh winters. People hiking near glaciers in late summer and autumn are encouraged to have a "watchful eye" for prehistoric artifacts.

Image gallery

Spegelsalen i Trollheimen.jpg, Speilsalen, a natural formation of the glacier, in late summer. The cave collapsed in the summer of 2007. SåtbakkollenFromVassnebba.jpg, Såtbakkollen mountain Raudøra.jpg, Gjevilvatnet with Raudøra beach, near Gjevilvasshytta. The mountain on the right is Okla, Oppdal municipality. Trollheimen.JPG, Trollheimen in winter River in the heart of Trollheimen mountains.jpg, Sunset by a river in the heart of Trollheimen mountains near Trollheimshytta

References

External links

Article with pictures from glaciers in TrollheimenWalkingworld:Trollheimen
{{authority control Landforms of Møre og Romsdal Landforms of Trøndelag Mountain ranges of Norway