The Jotunheim Trail stretches from the center of Oslo, through Marka, over the mountains, and all the way to Gjendesheim in Jotunheimen. This magnificent national park, which Asmund Olavsson Vinje named "Jøtunheimen", is known far beyond Norway's borders.
Published: February 26, 2025
About DNT
A collaborative project
The entire route passes through 12 municipalities and three counties, and is approx. 380 kilometers long. This includes accommodation in 15 different cabins and in two shelters. The estimated time spent on the entire trip is 17 days. This must be said to be a worthy destination for nature-loving hikers, and it is precisely Jotunheimen that is located at the end of the Jotunheimstien.
DNT Oslo and Omegn, DNT Hadeland, DNT Lillehammer and DNT Gjøvik og Omegn have in beautiful union facilitated an enriching experience to go on this trip. You follow Henrik Wergeland and Phillipe Pope's footsteps from 1832, when they walked from the capital (then Christiania), past Kvitningen and up along Mjøsa, and eventually towards Huldreheimen and Gjendesheim in Jotunheimen.
Inspiration
On the trail, the Nordic region's highest mountain peaks and lush valleys have inspired famous people such as Henrik Ibsen, Hans Gude and P.C Asbjørnsen to create masterpieces that have achieved international recognition. Among other things, Ibsen's Peer Gynt made the daring leap on the back of a goat along Besseggen (or the edge of Knutshø).
Theodor Caspari (1853 – 1948) was a poet who cultivated Norwegian nature. He described parts of what is now Jotunheimstien in this way:
"Fly", it is found nowhere else on the planet – I take Anglo-Saxon globetrotters as a witness – than in Norway. Vinsterflyen has all the good qualities of the plateau: The silence, the solitude, the limitation, the clarity, the moss carpet, the lakes, the river and the trout fishing." (From Friluftsliv på Vinsterflyen)
Map of Jotunheimstien
The Jotunheim Trail stretches from the center of Oslo, through Marka, over the mountains, and all the way to Gjendesheim in Jotunheimen.
