10 Informative Facts About Jotunheimen National Park

Facts About Jotunheimen National Park

Facts About Jotunheimen National Park

  1. Jotunheimen National Park is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country’s premier hiking and fishing regions.
  2. The national park covers 1,151 square kilometers and is part of the larger area Jotunheimen.
  3. Wildlife includes the reindeer, elk, deer, wolverines, and lynx. Most lakes and rivers hold trout.
  4. There are more than 200 mountain peaks rising above 2000 m.
  5. In February 2020, Secrets of the Ice Program researchers discovered a 1,500-year-old Viking arrowhead dating back to the Germanic Iron age and locked in a glacier in southern Norway caused by the climate change in the Jotunheimen Mountains. The arrowhead made of iron was revealed with its cracked wooden shaft and a feather is 17 cm long and weighs just 28 grams.
  6. The National Park covers most of the mountainous region of Jotunheimen, including Hurrungane, but Utladalen and its surroundings are within Utladalen Landscape Protection Area. Geographically, it lies in both Innlandet and Vestland counties. Geologically the Jotunheimen is a Precambrian province.
  7. By Royal Decree in December 1980, a national park of 1145 square kilometers was initially established in the heart of Jotunheimen.
  8. In 1869 the DNT built its first hut on the shores of Lake Tyin. Today the DNT’s tourist huts make this area one of the best developed touring areas in Europe.
  9. The National Parks three highest peaks: Galdhøpiggen (2469 Meters Above the Sea), Glittertind (ca. 2465 Meters Above the Sea) & Store Skagastølstind (2405 Meters Above the Sea)
  10. Originally there was no common name for this large mountainous area. However, in 1820, the Norwegian geologist and mountaineer, Baltazar Mathias Keilhau proposed the name Jotunfjeldene “the mountains of the Jotnar”. This was later changed to Jotunheimen by the poet Aasmund Olavsson Vinje in 1862 – this name/form was directly inspired by the name Jötunheimr in Norse mythology.
Facts About Jotunheimen National Park
Facts About Jotunheimen National Park
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Find out more about Jotunheimen, with jotunheimen.com