PROTECTION OF THE LANDSCAPE IN NORWAY

NATURAL RESERVE OF DOVREFJELL - SUNNDALSFJELLA

General characteristic

Dovrefjell is comprised of 7 protected landscape areas and 2 protected biotope areas with a total area of 4365 km2, making it one of the largest continuous protected areas in Norway. This area covers 8 municipalities (Sør-Trøndelag, Møre, Romsdal, Oppland, Sunndal, Nesset, Lesja and Dovre) and 4 different counties, in the Northern part of Central Norway, offering many opportunities to go on a trip in the many different landscapes and mountains.

Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park was set up in 2002, replacing the original Dovrefjell National Park, which was established in 1974 with an area of 256 km² on the southern outskirts of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. The main purpose of the park is to preserve the still untouched high-mountain ecosystem and the living areas for the caribou population. The park boasts a vast variety of plants and animal species for which it is a home. In the park there are many plants, almost 420 species. You can also see many endemic animals. For instance, throughout the park, there is a good chance of coming across musk oxen.

The East has unique, rounded landscape formations, and when entering the park from the west, visitors experience the iconic landscape of western Norway with its steep, sharp peaks and deep valleys. There are also many fine views of the mountain, Snøhetta, from the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre Pavilion at Tverrfjellet, near Hjerkinn. Snøhetta is the highest point of national park (2286 metres above sea level) and the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range. Snøhetta like other peaks is covered with a constant layer of snow (the name Snøhetta is a compound of snø - snow and the finite form of hette - hood - "the mountain with a hood of snow").

The mountain has several peaksStortoppen, the highest summit, 2,286 meters; Midttoppen, 2,278 meters, prominence 40 m; Hettpiggen, 2,261 meters, prominence 50 m; Vesttoppen, 2,253 meters, prominence 70 m. Vesttoppen and Stortoppen are easily available by hiking or skiing as well as traversing Midttoppen and Hettpiggen

ÅMOTAN - THE NIAGARA OF THE NORTH

General characteristics

The Åmotan gorge lies at the entrance of the Dovre-Sunndalsfjella National Park and it is a unique natural phenomenon of Norway. Most of Åmotan is situated in a protected area, connected to Dovrefjell - Sunndalsfella National park. Its area is 154.38 km²; the park was established in 2002. Steep mountain cliffs, moraine ridges and terraces create a fan-shaped river system where four rivers meet-three of them forming the impressive waterfalls down towards Åmotan (Sunndal). The name Åmotan literally means "place when rivers meet".

To access this sight, driving along Highway 70 from Oppdal or Sunndalsøra, turn off at Gjøra, then drive about 5 km to Svisdal. Here, the Sunndal Mountains rise up towards Dovre, with the three magnificent waterfalls tumbling down the mountainsides into the same ravine. During the spring floods, this sight becomes a breath-taking, raging inferno. But even at other times throughout the year, there is plenty of water in the falls to admire one of Sunndal's greatest natural occurrences.

The Åmotan gorge is a young landscape carved out by water in the Quaternary period, between the first Ice Ages and the end of the last Ice Age. Each of the three falls that pours into the ravine is remarkable in its own right: Reppefallet and Lindalsfallet, which have a freefall of 110 metres and the 156 tall Svøfallfallet. Reppfallet is a particularly beautiful waterfall in the gorge and is located near Jenstad (Gjøra) not far from Sunndalsøra in the region Møre og Romsdalen. But what makes Åmotan so spectacular is the combination of the three falls together in action.