Eggjareir and the mountain landscape of Raggsteindalen

In the immediate surroundings of Eggjareir, Raggsteindalen reveals a landscape that ranges from the birch forest belt to the treeless mountains. The valley stretches from Strandavatn in Hol, at an altitude of 1,000 metres, towards Hallingskarvet. Its highest point, Folarskardnuten, is 1,933 metres high. When choosing your holiday apartment according to the kind of holiday you have in mind, the nearby mountain hikes and ski tours offer a practical guide for planning.

Hiking and ski touring in Raggsteindalen

Raggsteindalen offers a variety of opportunities for mountain hikes and good conditions for ski touring. There are no alpine ski slopes to disturb the area. Several DNT-marked hiking trails start from Raggsteindalen Høyfjellstue. However, the Høyfjellstue is closed. Storestølen fjellstugu is listed as an alternative place to stay; check this information again before booking.

The time of year also affects practical planning. The road to Raggsteindalen Høyfjellstue is not cleared in winter. When deciding between summer and winter plans, it is therefore worth distinguishing between the routes and access points mentioned for each season. In the wider region, the trails to Storestølen have winter markers in winter and are marked in summer.

Routes and destinations in the wider area

A longer hike leads to Lordehytta, a stone hut built around 1880 in Folarskaret on Hallingskarvet. It is accessible only on foot. The approach takes about three hours from Raggsteindalen and about five hours from Haugastøl. These approximate walking times help compare the two starting points without treating the hike as a short trip in the valley.

The Lordemarsjen follows another route through this mountain landscape: the annual hike, organised in early August, is 21 kilometres long and runs from Raggsteindalen through Folarskaret to Haugastøl Turistsenter. It can also be done independently. Since this information describes a recurring event, check the arrangements for the relevant year in advance.

For another route through the region, Storestølen offers boat transport across Strandavatnet to a locally marked trail in Ynglesdalen. The trail leads to Geiterygghytta and Raggsteindalen. If you plan to use this connection, check the boat schedule before your trip. At Geiterygghytta, seasonal activities complement hiking: in summer, canoes and fishing rods are available to rent; in winter, the hut rents out snowshoes and lends sledges for the tobogganing slopes around the hut.

Hol as the wider travel area

In the wider travel area of Hol, Hallingskarvet National Park offers a broader regional perspective. Established in 2006, it covers 450 square kilometres and extends across Hol, Ulvik and Aurland in two counties. Hallingskarvet has steep slopes to the north and south; Folarskardnuten reaches 1,933 metres above sea level.

Hol also offers cultural attractions. Fekjo Cultural Heritage Park features landscape art and burial mounds from the Viking Age, dating back to the 9th century; most of the graves examined were women’s graves. The park also includes seven charcoal kilns and an iron production site. Dagali Museum displays buildings and objects from Dagali, Skurdalen, Tunhovd and Uvdal and is laid out as an old farmstead, with buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.

When choosing your holiday apartment, you can weigh up two priorities: mountain hikes and ski tours in nearby Raggsteindalen, or a trip that also includes culture and other destinations in the wider travel area of Hol.

Discover more destinations: Hovet, Geilo, Hol, Dagali, Ustaoset, Haugastøl.

Go to the wider travel overview: Hol.