Måbødalen- geology

The old pack road had 1500 steps, where cars today gas through the mountain. The time of this hard work is over, and of getting used to the steep terrain, as well; only the view from the top is much the same as before. Vøringsfossen in summer is one of Western Norway’s biggest natural wonders. It marks the transition between the older, open part of the Sysendalen valley and the younger, narrow and winding valley of Måbødalen.

Skytjedalen

Hamlagrø

The type of underlying rock can be decisive for how many different types of plants are found in an area. In the area around Hamlagrø-lake the diversity is especially obvious. The geological conditions change much here within a short distance.

Teigdalen

It is not surprising that there are several folk tales connected to the large and unusual scree deposit that is found at Langeland, uppermost in Teigdalen. It is said that folk have been taken into the mountains by these stone blocks and have come back and told about how the wood nymphs live. It is also said that packs of thieves hid here in the old days, both themselves and the treasures they had stolen.

Vangskyrkja

Vangskyrkja (Vangen church) is the largest of the medieval churches in Hordaland; one of the four “fjordung” churches in the county. A royal letter from 1271 shows that the church was under construction at this time. Vossevangen at Vangsvatnet, where the wide and expansive valleys of the Voss communities meet, was the natural location for a church.

Berge

Down by the fjord on the farm Berge in Tørvikbygd, is Stekkavika – a sheltered eastward facing harbour, protected against the fjord by headlands and rocks, even manifest in the name. Here is also a comprehensive milieu of coastal industry, with boathouses and sea-sheds that belong to the farms Berge, Heradstveit and Halleråker. Belonging to the farm Berge there is also a mill-house, circular saw, workshop for sloop building, and – a little further up into the woods – the old water-powered sash-saw.

Bru

Bruosen is one of the few river harbours in the county. As landing place for the churchgoers, this place and the boatshed environment follow a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, but the country store of today is much younger.

Fykse

Mundheim

At Mundheim there is a dangerous stretch of the highway. The mountainside has given way several times in this area. Typically, it happens in the spring, when the frost has loosened its grip.

Tokagjelet

There is a sharp transition between the wide valley at Kvamskogen and the narrow Tokagjelet. The transition is no less dramatic when we come out of the crooked tunnels far down in the canyon, and the open Steinsdalen valley spreads out before us. The canyon both separates and joins together different epochs in western Norway's history.