Hessdalen is a village in

Holtålen Municipality Holtålen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is located in the Ålen area o ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Hessdalen also refers to the long valley that surrounds the village. Hessdalen is located in the central part of the valley, approximately south of the city of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, approximately north of the mining town of Røros, and about southwest of the village of

Renbygda Renbygda or Ålen is the administrative centre of Holtålen Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Gaula River and the Rørosbanen railway line, about north of the town of Røros and about southeast of th ...

. About 150 people live in the village and surrounding valley. Hessdalen Church is located in the village of Hessdalen and the lake

Øyungen Øyungen is a lake in Holtålen Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake lies about southwest of the village of Hessdalen. The Forollhogna National Park surrounds the lake on three sides. Name The first part of the name is which ...

lies about southwest of the village. The Hessdalen area is known for the occurrence of unexplained aerial luminous phenomena called the Hessdalen lights. The phenomenon is monitored by the Hessdalen AMS.

Name

The first element is the name of the local river ''Hesja'' and the last element is the definite form of ''dal'', which means " dale" or "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

References

Holtålen Valleys of Trøndelag Villages in Trøndelag {{Trøndelag-geo-stub