About Fosselvfossen
Fosselvfossen was a waterfall that Julie and I never even knew about until we just happened to notice it on a paper place mat in a cafe in Storslett as we were having a late lunch/dinner after having visited Mollisfossen.
To our surprise, not only did that place mat mention this waterfall, but there was also a map that showed that it was quite close to the town of Storslett, where we were spending the night.
So we took advantage of the 24-hour sun and immediately headed out to the falls after our “lunner”.
And when we saw the falls leaping high off the cliffs facing the Straumfjord, we knew we had made the right call in squeezing this excursion out on what was otherwise a very long day of touring.
Fosselvfossen (meaning “the Falls River Falls”?) was said to have a free-leaping 64m plunge, and it was bathed in that soft evening light so it practically had the perfect backlight for all the photographs we took of it.
Experiencing Fosselvfossen
After finding parking at a campground nearest to the falls (see directions below) thanks to the very friendly lady who worked at the campsite who allowed me to park there, I then crossed the E6 and walked up a 2km marked path that climbed relentlessly.
The path was well-defined thanks to red markings to help guide me through the lightly forested terrain.
Probably about 20 minutes into this steep climb, I was suddenly above the trees and into the grassy terrain shared by sheep.
At this point, I was already able to get somewhat obstructed views of the falls so then I scrambled some more on the grassy paddock (trying not to mind the heaps of tiny sheep dung) for a better look.
Eventually, I ended up with the photo you see at the top of this page.
Once I was done taking photos from this spot, I scrambled around some more to see if it was possible to get even closer to the falls.
However, the terrain got even steeper and I wasn’t sure it was wise to continue that effort.
Yet when I was headed back downhill to try to regain the trail, I noticed a gorgeous view overlooking Straumfjorden with the late evening sun bathing everything in its soft orange glow.
It was quite a surreal moment, and it made the hike up to Fosselvfossen even more worthwhile and satisfying than it already was.
Unfortunately, when it was time to head back to the car, I realized that I had somehow lost the trail.
There were numerous false trails leading me astray, and during the course of scrambling around, I eventually got lucky regaining the trail going back down.
Given the steepness of the trail (it was all uphill on the way there, but all downhill on the way back), it took me about 75 minutes of hiking round trip.
That said, I think this hike might typically not take as long as I ended up spending due to the scrambling on the paddock for a better view as well as getting a little bit lost on the way back.
The difficulty rating I gave this excursion reflected my experiences so it might be a little higher than the “2” I’d normally give excursions taking around an hour round trip.
Authorities
Fosselvfossen resides in the Nordreisa Municipality. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.
From the Road 865 junction with the E6 in Storslett, we headed northeast on the E6 for about 11.5km until we reached Fosselv Camping.
Fosselv Camping was the next campsite after Sandnes Camping, and it sat on the left (west) side of the highway.
That was where the friendly proprietor at Fosselv Camping allowed me to park the car in a clearing on her campground.
Had this option not be available, I recalled having a little bit of a struggle finding a suitable place along the E6 to stop the car and start the hike on the inland side of the highway.
But that was in July 2005, and I’d imagine Fosselv Camping doesn’t endorse public camping these days.
So when I returned to this part of Norway in July 2019, I did notice that on the opposite side of the highway, there appeared to be some kind of clearing next to a bridge.
It’s still unclear to me if it’s ok to park there or not, but I didn’t see any other alternative.
Overall, this drive would take under 15 minutes.
For some geographical context, Storslett was 164km (over 2 hours drive) west of Alta, 228km (over 3 hours drive without a ferry) east of Tromsø, 290km (under 4 hours drive) northwest of Kautokeino, 318km (about 4.5 hours drive) north of Narvik, and 371km (over 5 hours drive) southwest of Honningsvåg.
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