Liatårnet from Fjellavegen via Fjellasåta (12.10.2025)

© Helwig Hauser

© Helwig Hauser

Note that this track has been created from memory, i.e., it was not recorded automatically.

Trip Summary

We parked south of Fjell along Søre Fjellavegen and started our hike by aiming at Fjellasåta via Rindane. Basically at the saddle, where Søre Fjellavegen starts to descend again towards the south, we found a very basic trail (or something like that), which brought us well up and onto Rindane (towards the east). Even though this trail (or "trail") was not always immediately obvious, we still made it quickly and easily to Fjellasåta (Kannikahaugen). From there, and instead of following the north-south oriented trail across Fjellasåta, we proceeded further eastwards (towards the southern end of Gyravatnet). When down at Festningsvegen, we did not have to search long before we found a little opening in the thick valley forest. This opening connected to a simple "trail" between the trees (someone had sawed off some branches, there, even!). This motivated us to look for a reasonable opportunity to cross over Ytsta Elva, which drains Gyravatnet in its south. With quite a bit (a lot, to be more accurate) of water "all around us" after a while, we concluded that the only way to get across would be to take off our shoes and get over/through Ytsta Elva, where it makes an intermediate eastward turn before rushing further south through the valley. This worked quite well and -- with our hiking boots back on -- we then aimed at exploring the next challenge: would we be able to ascend "diagonally" to the higher grounds in the southeast of Gyravatnet using narrow strip that looked like well-suited for this traverse on the map? The answer was quickly clear: yes! :-) Once on Bjørkedalshaugane, we then (first) followed the north-south oriented trail over them, before (then) aiming a bit more towards the northeast in order to cross over to the hills in the north of the shooting range west of Pyttane. All this worked very well and soon we were down at the shooting range, also. The next goal was then to explore a crossing over the stretch of hills directly in the south of the shooting range. While getting up to the first hill, directly from the shooting range, was a bit steep, all of this worked very well, also, and we enjoyed some nice views and a short break on the top of one of these hills. We then discussed the next challenge: ascending towards Liatårnet via the northwestern (very steep) slope. Only one of us decided to actually go for it, while the other one headed further southwards (to short-cut Liatårnet for this time). To get over to the actually steep ascent, one first needs to cross over some wet terrain -- to be more accurate: the water was standing about 10 to 30 centimeters high over larger parts of the valley floor there! Yes, Norgeskart shows a trail there, but this trail is not easy to see -- at least not below the water! :-) Once on the other side, the first 50 height meters were more like a bush war than any sort of an enjoyable hike: it's steep, there's a lot of vegetation, everything was wet. Also, it's not immediately possible to take "whatsoever route up" there; instead, one needs to rather carefully choose, where to make progress. Once up to about 220masl, though, further progress became easier and once up on this "diagonal ledge", which leads upwards in mostly northward direction, stepping onwards had become kind of straight forward again. To actually make the height meters that are necessary to eventually make it "all up", an approach towards the northwestern ridge was chosen. While it became necessary, after a while, to help out also with both hands, this ascent, after all, was still within the safely doable range of off-trail scrambling. :-) From the little side-top, in the northwest of Liatårnet, it then was fast and easy to get over to the actual top of Liatårnet. From there, it was then (first) down towards the south, following the main trail there (nice trail, but definitely steeply down south of the little lake in the southeast of Liatårnet), before then reconnecting with the actual main-trail up and down Liatårnet (from Søre Fjellavegen). This connection, while marked as a trail on Norgeskart, is mostly off-trail, though (easy hiking, but quite a bit of wet!). Once on the main trail, it was no more than just walking out to the big parking lot at Fjellavegen.

Photos

Selected photos are available as Google photo album.

Useful Resources

See also the related FB-page Hiking around Bergen, Norway.
Petter Bjørstad has a useful page about Liatårnet and also web page WestCoastPeaks.com provides useful information about Liatårnet.