Nitelva is a river that rises at

Grua Grua is a village in the municipality of Lunner municipality, Akershus, Norway. Its population (2023) is 1,587. Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Eart ...

and flows to Harestuvatnet in the southern part of

Lunner Lunner is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Roa, Norway, ...

municipality in

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

. The river then flows southwards and ends at

Øyeren Øyeren is a lake in the Glomma River watershed, southeast of the city of Lillestrøm (town), Lillestrøm. It is located within the municipalities of Enebakk, Lillestrøm, and Rælingen in Akershus county and Indre Østfold municipality in Østfol ...

. The river has at this point run for around and has dropped around . The river is part of the Oslomarkavassdragene. The northern part of Nitelva runs between

Hakadal Hakadal is a village in the northern part of Nittedal municipality in Akershus, Norway. The village and parish is the site of Hakadal Church (''Hakadal Kirke''). Hakadal Church dates to around 1610 and was originally constructed in a rectangu ...

and is called Hakadalselva. The journey to Øyeren begins with rapids, before slowing to a broad

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ing river through

Nittedal Nittedal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and city in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

. The last kilometres of the river run through

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger ...

and

Rælingen Rælingen is a village and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village ...

municipalities, first as a scenic part of

city and Øvre Rælingen with roads on both banks, passing through an industrialised area before ending at the delta in the north of Øyeren in Rælingen. Nitelva and its banks make up a varied and fertile belt through forests, agricultural landscapes and buildings. The river was originally named ''Nitja''. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it may come from the word ''net'', in the sense of fishing net. It may also come from the verb ''hnita'', which means "to clash" (meaning waves that clash together). The river is an important part of the local environment, and the watercourse has been used for timber mills, power, and factories. Many places along the Nitelva have remains of these activities, and their influence is still seen in place names. The river is well known for sports fishing. Up until Rotnesfossen can be found many of Norway's

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

, and 21 species are recorded. Among these are

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also includes perch, Gymnocephalus, ruffe and Darter (fish), darter. It is found in freshwater and brackis ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

and

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

. To the north of the watercourse can also be found

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

. Along the river, one can also find a rich and varied animal, bird and plant life, and it has an important ecological function as a habitat and dispersal corridor for several species. Here you can experience both the dense

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

forests, lush deciduous forests,

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es, flower beds,

juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...

and water plants. The animal and bird species along the river include

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

and

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

. Because of its biological diversity, Nitelva is a protected waterway, and in the lower part of the river, there are two nature reserves; Sørumsneset and Nordre Øyeren nature reserve.

References

Rivers of Akershus Lunner Nittedal Skedsmo Rivers of Norway {{Norway-river-stub