Norwegian Scenic Route Gamle Strynefjellsvegen. Driving in Snow in July

Norwegian Scenic Route Gamle Strynefjellsvegen runs from Grotli to Videsæter, a total distance of 27 km (Road 258). The small village of Hjelle also plays an important role in the tourist route since the old road starts at the jetty in Hjelle.

Built by manual labour towards the end of the 19th century, this road conveys a historical narrative. The road is an attraction in itself and a testimony to a masterpiece of engineering design from a bygone time.

Old hand-built walls of meticulously cut stones and long rows of guard stones characterise the stretch of road across the mountain. The scenic route between Eastern and Western Norway was listed as a protected road in 2009.

When the villages along western fiords began to experience tourism in the last few decades of the 19th century, the idea emerged of a drivable road across Strynefjellet. In 1881, it was therefore decided to build a road. People from Skjåk and surrounding villages, Swedish navvies and construction workers from Gudbrandsdalen worked ten-hour days to complete the road in the period 1889-1894.

Gamle Strynefjellsvegen is a chaussee, typical of its time, with hand-built stonemasonry walls and long rows of guard stones along the road. These formed a roadside guardrail at a time when horses and wagons were more common than cars.

The landscape around the road provides a variety of different hiking options. Walk along the many mountain lakes, follow an old travel route, or let your hike take you to one of the mountain farms in the area. From Gamle Strynefjellsvegen there is a nice drive down to Hjelle, the idyllic village on Lake Strynsvatnet in the valley of Hjelledalen.