Ottadalen () is a valley in the municipalities of
Skjåk
Skjåk is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bismo. Most of the municipal residents live in the Billingsdalen ...
,
Lom,
Vågå
Vågå () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...
, and
Sel __NOTOC__
SEL may refer to:
*Signalling Equipment Ltd, a trading name used by the British toy manufacturer J & L Randall
*Finnish Food Workers' Union, a trade union in Finland
*Left Ecology Freedom (''Sinistra Ecologia Libertà''), Italian political ...
in
Innlandet
Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...
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 ...
.
The valley is one of the side valleys that branch off of the large
Gudbrandsdalen
Gudbrandsdalen (; ) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lillehammer and the lake ...
valley. It lies on the northern edge of
Jotunheimen National Park
Jotunheimen National Park (, ) is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country's premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers and is part of the larger area Jotunheimen. More than 250 peaks rise above an elevation ...
. Historically, the Ottadalen has been widely used as a transportation
artery
An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...
between western and eastern Norway through the
Breidalen valley in
Skjåk Municipality
Skjåk is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bi ...
to
Stryn Municipality
Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of th ...
, through the
Breidalskrysset to
Stranda Municipality
Stranda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stranda, ...
, along the
Jostedalsbreen
Jostedal Glacier or is the largest glacier in continental Europe. It is in Vestland county in Western Norway. Jostedalsbreen lies in the municipalities of Luster, Sogndal, Sunnfjord, and Stryn. The highest peak in the area is Lodalskåpa a ...
glacier to the
Jostedalen
Jostedalen is a river valley in Luster Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long valley runs from the Lustrafjorden at the village of Gaupne, to the north along the river Jostedøla and along the eastern side of the Jostedal Glacier. The ...
valley and
Luster Municipality
Luster is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative centre is the village of Gaupne. Other villages in Luster include Fortun, Hafslo, Indre ...
, and across the
Sognefjellet
Sognefjellet () is a mountainous area and mountain pass which connects Lustrafjorden and its surrounding valley with the Ottadalen valley in the Jotunheimen area. Sognefjellet is located in Luster Municipality (in Vestland county) and Lom Municip ...
to the
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (''Vestlandet''). It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...
district. There is also a road from Vågå, through
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 ...
to
Fagernes
is a town in Nord-Aurdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the largest urban/commercial centre for the Valdres region. It is located just northwest of the village of ...
.
The
Otta River flows through the valley. The Otta River begins in the municipality of Skjåk and flows into lake
Vågåvatn
Vågåvatn or Vågåvatnet is a lake located in Lom and Vågå municipalities in Innlandet county, Norway. The lake is part of the river Otta, which begins in Skjåk municipality, flows into lake Vågåvatn. It then exits the Vågåvatn at Våg ...
et. Exiting Vågåvatnet at
Vågåmo
Vågåmo is the administrative centre of Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the Otta River, at the eastern end of the lake Vågåvatn in the Ottadalen valley. The Norwegian National Road 15 passes thr ...
, it continues its journey through the valley, leaving the municipality of Vågå to meet the
Gudbrandsdalslågen
The Gudbrandsdalslågen (or simply ''Lågen'') is a river which flows through the Gudbrandsdal valley in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through a large valley in Eastern Norway before emptying into Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norw ...
river at the town of
Otta in
Sel Municipality
Sel is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Otta. The municipality also includes several notable villages including ...
.
Reinheimen National Park
Reinheimen National Park () 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 park includes parts of the ...
, which consists of much of the
Tafjordfjella
Tafjordfjella or Tafjordfjellene () is a mountain range in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties, Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Fjord, Stranda, Rauma, and Skjåk. The area takes its name from the village of Tafjord and the ...
mountain range, includes the reindeer habitat in the northern part of the Ottadalen valley.
See also
*
Otta seal
Otta seal is a type of bituminous surface treatment that was developed by the Norwegian Road Research Laboratory (NRRL). Its name is based on the location in which it was created, the Otta Valley. Otta seal was developed to be used as a tempora ...
References
External links
''Fjuken'', local newspaper for the Ottadalen areaOtta website
{{use dmy dates, date=April 2022
Lom, Norway
Sel, Norway
Skjåk
Vågå
Valleys of Innlandet