Leirvågen

A marsh is a grassy meadow that is strongly influenced by salt from the sea. This type of nature is abundant in Denmark, among other places. The flatlands along the river that run out by Leirvågen, are the municipalities' largest marsh. At spring tide, these flatlands are flooded underwater for several hundred metres in over land.

Lyngoksen

Otterstadstølen

Otterstadstølen lies in an idyllic grassy plain surrounded by rich forest, but also with high mountains close by. The mountainsides are steep and typical of this part of the county. The same cannot be said about the forest. This spruce forest has been able to develop freely for hundreds of years. Otherwise in the county, only Voss has spruce forest.

Stølsheimen

The large mountain area between Modalen, the Voss communities and Sogn is one of the finest mountain pasture areas in West Norway. In older times this area was called Steinslandsheimen, in our times it has acquired the name Stølsheimen. Power development and protection interests have been opposed here. The core area of Stølsheimen has now been protected as a landscape protection area, while some of the oldest mountain farms have been flooded. A register in the 1970s comprised almost 40 mountain farm settlements in the central area of Stølsheimen, belonging to Modalen, Høyanger and Vik municipalities.

Erslandsvatnet

Skogafjellet

You have to travel to Scotland in order to find pine forests similar to those at Bømlo. The nearness to the sea has contributed in different ways to shaping one of the westernmost pine forests in Norway.

Sørøyane

Purkebolsvatnet

Lake Purkebolsvatnet is perhaps western Norway's largest sleeping city - for birds. They come in the thousands, usually in later summer and autumn. The barn swallows alone number 10 000 - 12 000 at their most numerous.