Waterfalls Near Rjukan

Rjukan was once called the "Cradle of Tourism" in Norway as it brought the first tourists to the Telemark County, but that kind of gives you an idea of just how impressive the falls were. These days, the hydro power generated by the Måna River supplies electricity for Rjukan and the greater municipality of Tinn.

Yet perhaps something more memorable than the waterfalls themselves was the town's apparently key role in sabotaging Hitler's plans to create and use atomic weapons. The reason why was that Rjukan was the site of a heavy water plant, which was one of the items needed to develop nuclear weapons. We learned that Norwegian and British allies destroyed that heavy water plant thereby undermining Hitler's Third Reich in the race to come up with the weapon first during World War II.

Directions: Rjukan is about a three-hour drive west from Oslo. We took the E18 then took the E134 before going north on the 361 which became the 37, which we took the rest of the way to Rjukan. We noticed the Heddal Stave Church (stavkirke) about 7km or so west of Notodden along the E134 – the largest of Norway's eccentric collection of stave churches.

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A waterfall seen on the way to Rjukan

Looking directly at one of the waterfalls near Rjukan

Another one of the waterfalls near Rjukan

The Heddal Stave Church seen on the way during the long drive to Rjukan from Oslo

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