Trollstigen

The Troll Staircase is one of Norway's most famous landmarks, being a small section of the Norwegian national road RV63. The highway connects the city of Ondalsnes and Walldal and was inaugurated by King Haakon VII himself in 1936. The road has 11 turns, and the elevation sometimes reaches 9%.

From 1533 to 1875, the Rumsdahl Fair was held in Rumsdahl, which was the main reason for the construction of the road through Trollstigen. In 1891, about 8 km of road was built from Weblungsnes to Kvernbroi. Then to the town of Knutseter. At the same time, the leadership of the counties of Nordahl and Grütten turned to Amtmann to build a road through the mountains. In 1893, Atma went to the Construction Department to review the plan and make a cost estimate. And already in 1894, engineer Nils Hovdenak was sent to these places to assess the situation. Nils thought that the road should be built from Eustestel to Stigfjellrera, so that a highway could be built here. After considerable efforts by Hovdenak and not only in 1905-1906, 4,000 crowns were allocated for the construction of the road, and in 1913 the road was built. But Nils had his own intentions about the road, he wanted to turn it into an automobile.

In 1916, the Department of Public Works authorized the construction of the road. First, the Gudbrand, Hol, and Krihe bridges were built. On Rumsdahl's side, work began in 1928. Construction was difficult, and rockfalls and avalanches often occurred. But by July 1, 1936, the road was completed. King Haakon himself inspected the road between Valldalen and Rumsdalen. When drawing up the act of acceptance of the road, they wrote that "the representatives of the communes who were there asked the king to give the road a name, after which he called it Trollstigwegen," that is, the "Troll Ladder" road.

The width of the road is small, only 3.3 meters, so cars with a length of no more than 12 meters can drive here. In autumn and winter, the Troll Stairs are closed. The road is closed from October to May, but the dates vary depending on the weather.

At the top of the road (858 meters) there is a large parking lot and many souvenir shops. There is an observation platform nearby, from which you can see a stunning view of the looping Troll Staircase, as well as the Stigfossen waterfall, which is 180 meters high.