Gullbotnen

A barren belt where almost nothing grows, runs through the forest on the east slope of Gullbotnen. But, along the west side of the main road there is a fertile zone that flourishes with several finicky plant types. The contrasts arise from the extreme variations in the nutrient content of the bedrock.

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.

Helgaberget

Helgaberget – the holy hill – is a little rocky crag which thrusts itself a few metres above the terraced surface of Støle. The surface of the rock is strewn with figures inscribed in the rock and it was, as far as one can judge, a cult centre in the Bronze Ages. The name could indicate that the tradition of holiness can have lasted for almost 3,000 years.

Hereiane

At Hereiane on warm summer days one you can walk barefoot up the hill from the fjord all the way up to 400 metres elevation. The naked, furrowed bedrock often causes travellers who see it from the north side of the fjord to wonder. Why does it look like this, and why is there so little that grows here? It is a long way to the heavy metal industry in Ålvik and Odda, and there hasn’t been a forest fire in modern times.

Håhaugsteinen

Hårteigen

Hårteigen, «the grey signpost», as the name suggests, is a landmark for mountain hikers on the western plateau. The piece of mountain is also a monument for the mighty rock layers that once covered the entire plateau.

Jonstein

When high school student Arne Handegard collected plants for a herbarium in 1962, he didn’t know what kind of rarity he had pressed into his notebook. 30 years later he attended a botanical lecture, where a picture was shown of a plant he recognized: “Norwegian Sagebrush, which in Norway is only found in a large area of Dovre and in Trollheimen, and in a little area in Ry county”. Arne Handegard raised his hand: “That plant grows on Mt. Jonstein in Jondal”.

Knarrevik

Having passed well over the bridge across to Sotra you pass an industrial plant surrounded by a budding community; the mineral mill of A/S Norwegian Talc. Some of the buildings seem to have been erected in the early part of the 20th century. They are remnants of a grand industrial plant from the former boom time in the country – the economic upswing after WWI.

Kvamskogen

The different bedrock types that got shoved in over Hordaland in Cambro-Silurian times still remain, layer by layer, almost like a cake. But at Kvamskogen the cake has been turned upside down.

Kvernes

Håkons Hall, Domkirken Church, Bergen Børs Stock Exchange, Permanenten and other well known buildings in Bergen are decorated with soapstone from Øvre Kvernes. The quarry is a big hole in the mountainside by the cliff just east of the farm buildings.