Kvernhusvågen

Bjørsvik

The industrial settlement Bjørsvik

Rylandvassdraget

There is a lot of trout and a large char population in Lake Rylandsvatnet. The lake was stocked with char, probably in 1907. The promoters of the project were the family Ameln, who owned eight mills in Rylandsvågen and parts of the Ryland farm.

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.

Valestrand

Hisøya

"I am going to prove to you that I am right". That is what the idealist and county doctor Christian Heitmann is supposed to have said in the early 1890s. He sat together with the parish priest, Kullmann, at Heitmann's home in Stord and discussed whether the islands in western Norway could have been forested or not. The priest thought that the area was too barren and weather-beaten for forest to have been able to grow so far out in the sea. But, Heitmann was sure he was right. He challenged the scepticism and set off to work.

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.

Langebudalen

Brandvikneset

Storsøya Island

On Storsøya Island, English ivy grows nearly everywhere. It creeps along the ground and climbs all the way to the top of the tree trunks. Together with holly, the trees of juniper, yew and an unusual pine forest keep the island green the whole year 'round.