Vik-Berge-Stråpa

The hike offers several exciting viewpoints and glimpses into typical mountain farm environments in Suldal. You can use the hike to reflect on what it might have been like to live on such mountain farms before the road arrived and the challenges involved in building roads to these places (approx. 1950).  

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The hike can start from Suldalsosen by the grocery stores or from the gas station, following Rv13 east through Vekakleivane until the turn-off towards Vik. There, the route crosses the bridge at Vikestraumen and goes around beneath the mountain slopes to the Vik farm. Where the road makes a 180-degree turn towards the farmyard, the path to Berge branches off up a short, steep slope, over a stile, and on the outfield side of the fence to the tractor road that winds up the hillside towards Berge. On the way up the hillside, you must take the opportunity to look back and take in the view over the Vik farm, Vekafjorden, and Veka/Vikane/Brustveitkilen on the other side of the water.

At the parking lot in Berge, you are at the highest point of the hike. This point can be the starting point for many different hikes into the Bergs-/Helganes-markene to Tjordal, Liastølen, Væting, Svinstølen, and Sandsa. The descent follows an asphalted (narrow) road carved into the mountainside on the north side of Juvet, with views towards the vertical north face of Stråpanuten. Around some hairpin bends, the terrain opens up, offering views over the valley with Stråpa, Osen, Fisketjøn, and the Hoftunsgardane farms in the foreground.

The round trip concludes over the bridge at Osvadet, with several older houses from the "hotel era" in Gamle Osen on the right-hand side.

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Facts about the hike

·      Time: 1.5 - 2 hours,

·      Distance: 5 km

·      Difficulty: Easy (green)

·      Highest point: 280 masl

·      Start: From the parking lot at Vinjar school or at the end of the road in Mehushaugen

·      Access: By bus from Sand or by private car to Vinjar school/Mehushaugen.

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