About Linndalsfossen
Linndalsfossen (I’ve also seen it referred to as Lindalsfallet, Linndalsfallet as well as Lindalsfossen) was the last of the three waterfalls that I saw from the Jenstad Farm.
Nestled below the Jenstad Farm sat Åmotan, which was a special place in my mind because it was where four thundering rivers (three of which had major waterfalls) all converged.
Such a concentration of giant waterfalls in one place seemed to be geologically special.
Just to give you an idea of the unusual forces at play here, according to the signs (and some of the local literature), the combination of ice dams, rapid elevation changes, and glacially-carved U-shaped valleys resulted in these rivers running in the opposite direction of their current flow today!
In any case, unlike the first two waterfalls (Svøufossen and Reppdalsfossen), I had to earn a view of this mammoth 140m waterfall (possibly up to 280m if you count the drop over its entire run) by doing a fairly involved hike.
So it was for this reason that it was also the hardest of the three Åmotan waterfalls to reach.
But even with that said, I thought the hike didn’t take nearly as long as the signs had led me to believe (which suggested it was 2 hours return when I first did it back in 2005).
I ended up taking about half that time on the first visit (with trail running) as well as 90 minutes on the second visit (with on-and-off rain).
So I wasn’t sure if the signs were overly conservative or if I was going really fast (though the latter reason was not that likely).
Perhaps the average pace would be something more on the order of 90 minutes give or take, which would be in line with the pace of my second visit.
The Linndalsfossen Hike
For this hike, I started from the first car park (see directions below), where I paid and displayed before setting off.
However, instead of walking towards Reppdalsfossen and Svøufossen, I went up the hill right behind the signboard and automatic payment machine towards Gammelsætra (a hytta or mountain cabin high up along the Linndøla River).
The initial part of the climb went up amongst some tall grass surrounded by tall trees with a few opportunities to glimpse the Reppdalsfallet along the way.
After about 150m, the trail intersected with an unpaved toll road that ultimately led up to Gammelsætra, but the trail continued right next to the self-help toll boom.
The hike continued its steady climb as it intersected a lesser used road (another 150m after the toll boom) before starting to undulate into a forested area alongside an electric fence (which definitely wasn’t there back in 2005).
For the next 1km or so, the path became increasingly narrower and steeper (even overgrown in spots) along the way.
During this stretch, the undulating trail gave into even more persistently steep climbing, which would make up perhaps the most difficult part of this hike.
Along this difficult stretch, there were some openings in the surrounding foliage that allowed me some distant views towards the uppermost tiers of Svøufallet in the distance.
The whole way, I saw those familiar spraypainted red Ts as reassuring trail markers courtesy of Den Norske Turistforeningen or DNT.
Eventually, as the steep climb eventually leveled out, I started to hear the roar of a waterfall, which hastened my paces even more.
And after about 1.5km from the trailhead (according to my GPS logs), I’d ultimately reach an open part of an outcrop perched high above a steep ravine with a direct view towards Lindalsfallet.
From this overlook, I had to be very careful not to get too close to the edge of the outcrop because it was a long way down and there was nothing to stop me from getting too close other than my sense of judgment.
Although on my first visit here in 2005 I didn’t entertain going any closer to the falls or continuing on to Gammelsætra, on the return visit in 2019, I did explore a little further to two more outcrops with views of Linndalsfossen.
Given its rippling appearance, Lindalsfallet kind of reminded me of how Illilouette Fall in Yosemite would look like had it been possible to view directly.
Enough of the Linndøla’s steep drop made contact with the underlying cliff face to make the falls spread and fan out giving it somewhat of a “plush” appearance.
Another waterfall that might have similar shared visual characteristics could be Feather Falls in Plumas National Forest in California.
Anyways, from what I could tell, there was no way I could get down into the canyon safely from the outcrop I was at so this was my turnaround point.
It appeared that the trail kept going uphill towards the brink of the falls or closer to the Gammelsætra cabin, but I can’t say more about them since I didn’t go any further.
When I had my fill of the impressive waterfall, I at least got to look forward to the all downhill on the way back to the trailhead, but I still had to watch for the narrowness and the odd roots or rocks conspiring to turn my ankles.
Nomenclature
You may wonder why I’ve been using the names Linndalsfossen, Lindalsfossen, Linndalsfallet, and Lindalsfallet interchangeably on this page (as well as the Svøufossen and Reppdalsfossen page).
It turns out that the Norgeskart map still spells the name of the falls and the river with two n’s like Linndalsfossen or Linndalsfallet.
That was the convention that I went with when I first did this write-up back in 2005, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.
Meanwhile, I’ve noticed recently that there had been more of a move to go with the suffix -fallet instead of -fossen in these parts. The same was true for both Svøufallet and Reppdalsfallet.
I’d imagine that has something to do with perhaps the Swedish-Norwegian cultural mix the closer to the north you go in Norway.
Finally, the utilization of the single n in the name Lindalsfossen or Lindalsfallet had been used by the landowners at the Jenstad Farm even since back on our first visit in 2005.
I’d imagine that’s the more common usage of the name of these falls, but whatever the case, just realize that they all refer to the same thing.
Authorities
Linndalsfossen resides in the Sunndal Municipality between Sunndalsøra and Oppdal in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.
Detailed driving directions are given in our Svøufossen and Reppdalsfossen page.
The first car park (mentioned in that other page) was where the Linndalsfossen trail began.
It was about 150m before the second car park. A self-help 30kr toll was charged for parking (as of 2019; though it was 20kr when we were first here in 2005 just to give you an idea of the rate of inflation).
For further context, Sunndalsøra was 68km (1 hour drive) west of Oppdal, 128km (2 hours drive) east of Åndalsnes, 187km (over 2.5 hours drive) southwest of Trondheim, 466km (6 hours drive) north of Oslo, and 578km (over 8.5 hours drive with ferry crossings) northeast of Bergen.
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Multiple sweeps showcasing Linndalsfossen from different viewpoints
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