Norway is filled to the brim with beautiful and dramatic mountains, so it’s not easy to choose a single one that should be a representative of Norway’s nature. But that’s done, and the Norwegian people have chosen an official representative to be considered Norway’s national mountain.
So which mountain is Norway’s national mountain, how do you reach it, and can you hike to the top of it? We’re going to be exploring all of this and more in this article!
Norway’s national mountain is called Stetinden, a beautiful mountain located about an hour away from the city of Narvik in Northern Norway. It was chosen as the national mountain by a nationwide poll.
Stetinden has been known as an iconic mountain for a long time, but it was first on 2002 that there was a national poll to determine the national mountain.
Stetinden won that poll, and has been known as the national mountain of Norway ever since.
Visiting Stetinden on your way to Lofoten
Stetinden er located close to both Narvik, Lofoten, Ofoten and Vesterålen, and you are likely going to be pretty close to Norway’s national mountain if you are visiting either of these places.
The mountain is easily reachable by car, and you can even drive under it in a tunnel. Most people who are coming to see Stetinden drives from Narvik, which is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the mountain. However, you get to drive along the highway E6 for most of the way, so it only takes about an hour to get from Narvik to Stetinden.
In contrast to what many expect, Stetinden is not a particularly popular tourist destination, even after it got crowned as the national mountain of Norway. Most people who visit the mountain do so to climb it (which we will look more at in the next part of this article).
According to Norway’s national news outlet NRK, very few tourists even stop at the mountain other than those coming to ascend it.
So you won’t find hordes of tourists with their cameras out at Stetinden, and tend to rather have the place almost to yourself.
Climbing to the top of Stetinden
It’s possible to climb to the top of Stetinden, and it’s an incredible experience if you’re into these kinds of things.
However, getting to the top of Stetinden is not just a regular hike, but rather a climb that requires mountain climbing gear. You need to rent or own mountain climbing gear, or join one of the guided mountain climbing tours that take you to the top.
You need to be in good physical condition to be able to climb to the top, and it’s a pretty challenging climb for inexperienced or first-time climbers.
You can see parts of the hike in the YouTube video embedded below:
The entire climb takes around 12 hours for most people, including breaks, so expect to spend the entire day at the mountain if you want to ascend it.
The main climbing season is July and August, and it’s only possible to ascend during decent weather.
Climbing to the top of Stetinden is an amazing experience, and the view from the top is just otherworldly. So I absolutely recommend it even though it’s a long and difficult hike and climb.
Stetind or Stetinden?
Many people call Stetinden for Stetind, and it’s a bit of a mix-up. The official name is Stetinden, so you should use this. However, many people just call it Stetind for various reasons, so you could hear both words.
PS. there’s also another mountain called Stetinden in Jotunheimen national park, but this is a completely different mountain.