About Slettafossen
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.
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.
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.
Floating about in the literature (including our Adventure Roads in Norway book
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).
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.
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.
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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