Northern Norway Waterfalls

The Northern Norway Waterfalls cover the thin stretch of the country mostly above the Arctic Circle sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Finland as well as Russia in the farthest north. This is the part of the country where we started to see some indigenous Sami influence though I’d imagine we’d see more of it had we gone further north into the county of Finnmark. We also started to see more differences in place names as “foss”, “fors”, and “fall” were all used for waterfalls, and we started seeing multiple place names on the maps for the same locales. In any case, this vast land where fjords meet jagged snowy peaks and tundras had its share of tall waterfalls as well as wide river ones where salmon fishing reigned supreme.

For the purposes of this website, we’re defining Northern Norway to include the counties of Nordland, Troms, Finnmark, and Alta. Nordland County featured the famous Laksforsen Waterfall, which as the name suggested was known for salmon fishing but was no slouch itself in terms of its size and scenic allure. Perhaps the county’s finest waterfall was the remote Bredekfossen. In between these waterfalls were glaciers (such as the Svartisen [Black Ice] Glacier) and caves such as Grønligrotta, which we managed to visit to mix things up a bit.

In Troms County, we got more waterfall surprises from Mollisfossen in Reisa National Park as well as the surprising Fosselvfossen, which faced the Straumfjord. There was also another important salmon fishing river in Målselvfossen. Of course, we also capped off our epic 2005 Norway trip with a stay in the charming city of Tromsø and its museum, which was Norway’s answer to the Sydney Opera House in Australia. We even witnessed the Midnight Sun from high up above the city of Narvik, which was another unforgettable experience.

Julie and I hope to return to this region of Norway because we know we missed out on the beautiful Lofoten Islands as well as the top of the country at Nordkapp. Ah, so much to see and do, and we’re chomping at the bit to return here to learn from past mistakes and experience Norway completely.

In the mean time, have a look at our humble sampling of the region by checking out the waterfalls we did manage to visit in the links below.