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Ristafallet

Undersaker / Halland, Jamtland County, Sweden

About Ristafallet

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Ristafallet was the first of three significant waterfalls in a stretch of the drive along the E14 between Östersund and the Swedish border and ultimately to Trondheim.

The falls featured a wide drop of 50m with a 14m drop as it spanned the Indals River (Indalsälva), which was apparently allowed to flow wild and free.

Ristafallet_017_07122019 - Looking across the impressive Ristafallet in the morning light
Looking across the impressive Ristafallet in the morning light

Thus, it was said to have a flow that can vary between 100-400 cubic meters per second, and as you can see from the photo above, power was the operative word here.

Ristafallet was also known as the waterfall Glupafallet in Ronja the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren (author of Pippi Longstocking).

When we made our visit, we could clearly see that it was one of Sweden’s more accessible (and thus popular) waterfalls thanks to a camping and cafe facility right by it.

Experiencing Ristafallet

From the car park (see directions below), we merely had to walk down the road leading past the campsite and towards a lookout within the shade of the surrounding trees.

That was pretty much all there was to our visit though we were cognizant of the risks of falling into the river if we wanted to get a closer look past the fence openings.

Ristafallet_005_07122019 - Looking down towards the Indalsälva from a patio by the cafe at Ristafallet suggesting that there appeared to be another waterfall or rapids further downstream (Nylandsforsen?)
Looking down towards the Indalsälva from a patio by the cafe at Ristafallet suggesting that there appeared to be another waterfall or rapids further downstream (Nylandsforsen?)

When I looked towards the falls from along the fence closer to its brink (and closer to the campground), I couldn’t help but notice that there was wafting mist rising from an unseen half of the opposite end of the falls.

That suggested to me that the falls had two segments split by some kind of rocky island, and that we only saw a fraction of the overall width of the falls.

Naturally, I was curious to see if it was possible to get a look at it, especially since I saw a pole on that island that made me wonder if there used to be a bridge or some kind of infrastructure to get onto that island.

I also noticed that trails continued to descend alongside the Indals River in both directions, including a 650m and 1km path to the Upper and Lower Nylandsforsen rapids.

However, after spending a brief amount of time looking around the immediate vicinity, I didn’t see a bridge nor anything along the river that would have allowed me to get to the other side.

Ristafallet_059_07122019 - Rising mist on the opposite side of the river facing away from me suggested that the rock protrusion in this photo was an island splitting Ristafallet into two segments
Rising mist on the opposite side of the river facing away from me suggested that the rock protrusion in this photo was an island splitting Ristafallet into two segments

So that was pretty much our Ristafallet experience as far as just visiting the falls was concerned.

With hindsight being 20/20, I did notice on the maps that there was a bridge spanning the Indals River at the town of Nyland, and maybe I probably could have driven closer to the other side of Ristafallet to see its other side by going that route.

I’ll have to find out about that if we’re fortunate to come back to explore that option.

Mittnordenleden

I also noticed a sign at the car park mentioning something about Mittnordenleden.

It turned out that this was a former pilgrim’s route that was re-opened in 2015 as it was absorbed into the 564km long St Olavsleden.

This path stretched from Sundsvall, Sweden in the east to Trondheim, Norway in the west.

I’m pretty certain the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim was the major destination point for such travelers on St Olavsleden.

It seemed to be analogous to the manner in which the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela would be the endpoint for pilgrimage walkers across the North of Spain on the Camino de Santiago (St James).

Authorities

Linafallet was near the town and municipality of Åre in Jämtland County, Sweden. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you may want to try the local municipality website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: are, undersaker, halland, jamtland, sweden, waterfall, lappland, lapland, ostersund, camping



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.