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, Veblu ...

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 ...

county,

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 ...

. 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 Åndalsnes in Rauma and the village of Valldal 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 coun ...

. 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 ha ...

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 surface ...

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

RRA Trollstigen fjellstue-27©Diephotodesigner

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 ...

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. 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 ...

commissioned an eco-friendly mobile base station 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 ...

with ski pole). File:Trollveggen 2002 June.jpg, Trollryggen 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'' ...

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 Håkon 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

References

External links