Slettafossen

Romsdal, More og Romsdal County, Norway

About Slettafossen


Hiking Distance: roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2005-07-02
Date last visited: 2019-07-17

Waterfall Latitude: 62.32437
Waterfall Longitude: 8.07803

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Slettafossen was one of the more known waterfalls within the famed Romsdal Valley (Romsdalen) though it puzzled both Julie and I.

There was a well-signed and relatively big car park and picnic area, which was quite rare for a waterfall in this area.

Romsdalen_122_07162019 - Slettafossen
Slettafossen

So we definitely sensed that this waterfall carried a lot of notoriety with it.

However, we wondered what the fuss was all about, especially on our first visit back in 2005.

The waterfall didn’t knock our socks off with its size, but it definitely possessed a fearsome display of power.

Perhaps it was the raised level of expectations that the tourism infrastructure here seemed to encourage.

Slettafossen_003_jx_07022005 - Slettafossen as seen in early July 2005
Slettafossen as seen in early July 2005

When I came back to the falls in 2019, I came in with a different mindset (since I knew what it was like already), and I seemed to better appreciate it that time around.

Indeed, Slettafossen was essentially where the Rauma River (the main river through Romsdal Valley) channeled into a tight chute creating the noisy and frothy show that it puts on.

The waterfall dropped over a cumulative height of 23m drop over a run of around 250m or so (based on how I’m interpreting the Norgeskart topo map).

Over a tighter run centered about the observation area around the footbridge, I’d say the drop was more on the order of 16m in cumulative height over a run of 75-100m.

Romsdalen_128_07162019 - Closer examination of the turbulence of Slettafossen
Closer examination of the turbulence of Slettafossen

Floating about in the literature (including our Adventure Roads in Norway book) were claims that the falls had anywhere between an 18m to 40m total drop over a 125m length.

Experiencing Slettafossen

We experienced Slettafossen by walking from the car park (see directions below) towards the bridge spanning above the turbulence of the waterfall.

From this vantage point, the falls appeared more like a legitimate waterfall even though you could argue that it was really more like a rapids than a waterfall or cascade.

After having our fill of the vantage from the top of the bridge, we then went down a short path to the left of the bridge (facing the bridge from the car park).

Romsdalen_137_07162019 - Contextual but partial look towards Slettafossen as I was descending towards the viewing areas beneath the bridge
Contextual but partial look towards Slettafossen as I was descending towards the viewing areas beneath the bridge

This path descended towards the bottom of the underside of the bridge that got us very close to the power and fury of the Rauma River.

I also felt that from these lower vantage points that the falls really felt more like rapids than a legitimate waterfall.

Maybe it’s one of those things where if the Rauma River happened to have low flow (maybe in a drought) that more of the underlying bedrock would be exposed to show just how steep the slope really would be.

That’s all speculation, however, so I think that this waterfall really served to remind us of how powerful Mother Nature can be.

Romsdalen_110_07162019 - Looking closely a little downstream from the footbridge over Slettafossen
Looking closely a little downstream from the footbridge over Slettafossen

Nothing more, nothing less.

Overall, a visit here could easily be done in around 15-30 minutes though there’s nothing stopping you from spending less time or lingering around a bit longer.

Authorities

Slettafossen resides in the Rauma Municipality near Åndalsnes in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.

Romsdalen_109_07162019 - As soon as I parked the car on my July 2019 visit to Slettafossen, I could see straight away that there were railings to keep people away from the cliff edges
Romsdalen_112_07162019 - Looking downstream from the railed viewing areas before getting to the bridge over the Rauma River at Slettafossen in July 2019. By the way, the next several shots also took place at this time
Romsdalen_145_07162019 - The bridge spanning the Rauma River at Slettafossen
Romsdalen_116_07162019 - Looking downstream at the Rauma River while standing atop the footbridge over Slettafossen
Romsdalen_118_07162019 - Looking in the opposite direction from the footbridge right down at the Slettafossen
Romsdalen_131_07162019 - Looking downstream towards the bridge over the Rauma River from its bottom
Romsdalen_132_07162019 - Context of a railing and part of the Slettafossen making its turbulent squeeze by the viewing area
Romsdalen_134_07162019 - A narrow footpath going underneath the bridge for a different viewing experience of Slettafossen
Romsdalen_138_07162019 - Partial view of Slettafossen from beneath the footbridge spanning the falls and the Rauma River
Romsdalen_139_07162019 - Awkward angled view of Slettafossen from the railings underneath the footbridge
Romsdalen_143_07162019 - Looking at the overall context of the gorge from before the footbridge over the Rauma River
Romsdalen_144_07162019 - Another contextual but obstructed view towards Slettafossen
Slettafossen_002_jx_07022005 - Examining some of the turbulence at Slettafossen from before the footbridge over the falls as seen back in early July 2005
Slettafossen_005_07022005 - Partial view down at what we thought was Slettafossen as seen in early July 2005. The rest of the photos in this gallery took place on this day
Slettafossen_008_07022005 - Partial view towards the start of Slettafossen from early July 2005
Slettafossen_011_07022005 - Looking towards the bridge above the turbulence of Slettafossen in 2005


We didn’t have trouble finding this waterfall as were motoring along the E136 through Romsdalen.

From the Fv64 and E136 junction at the south end of Åndalsnes, the car park for Slettafossen was about 38.3km south on the E136 on the right.

From the roundabout containing the E6 and E136 junction in Dombås, the Slettafossen car park was about 65.7km north on the E136 on the left.

For context, Åndalsnes was 128km (under 2 hours drive) west of Sunndalsøra, about 54km (over an hour drive) northeast of Valldalen, 87km (over 2 hours drive with a ferry crossing) northeast of Geiranger, 105km (under 90 minutes drive) northwest of Dombås, 108km (90 minutes drive) east of Ålesund, 303km (over 4 hours drive) southwest of Trondheim, 442km (over 5.5 hours drive) northwest of Oslo, and 508km (8 hours drive) northeast of Bergen.

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Video pretty much covering the whole experience for Slettafossen from the top of the bridge to below the bridge

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Tagged with: verma, romsdal, dombas, andalsnes, more og romsdal, norway, slettafossen, waterfall, rauma, vermafossen



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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.
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