Hardangervidda

Mountain plateau in Norway

Hardangervidda is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: vidde) in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Telemark, and Buskerud counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year round alpine climate, and one of Norway's largest glaciers, Hardangerjøkulen, is situated here. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park. Hardangervidda is a popular tourist and leisure destination, and it is ideal for many outdoor activities.

The plateau is the largest peneplain (eroded plain) in Europe, covering an area of about at an average elevation of The highest point on the plateau is the Sandfloegga, which reaches a height of The prominent peak of Hårteigen is visible across much of the plateau. Much of the Hardangervidda's geology is extremely ancient. The rolling fells of the Hardangervidda are the remnants of mountains that were worn down by the action of glaciers during the ice ages. The bedrock is mainly of Precambrian and Cambro Silurian origin.

The whole of the Hardangervidda is above the tree line. Its alpine climate enables the presence of many species of arctic animals and plants further south than anywhere else in Europe. Its wild reindeer herds are among the largest in the world, with some 15,000 animals recorded in 1996 and about 8,000 in 2008. They migrate across the plateau during the year, moving from their winter grazing lands on the east side of the Hardangervidda, where they graze on lichen, to their breeding grounds in the more fertile west of the plateau. On 26 August 2016, 323 were killed by lightning, prompting a Norwegian Environment Agency discussion on whether to leave so many corpses in the open. The varying climate of the plateau has a marked effect on the flora, which is richer on the wetter west side than in the drier east; much of the plateau is covered by coarse grasses, mosses (especially sphagnum) and lichens. In the Holocene climatic optimum (Stone Age) 9,000–5,000 years ago, the regional climate was warmer, and large parts of Hardangervidda were wooded; pine logs can still be found preserved in bogs well above today's treeline. With the predicted warming, Hardangervidda could again be largely wooded.

The national park has two visitor centres on the plateau: the Hardangervidda Natursenter (Nature Centre) in Eidfjord, and the Hardangervidda Nasjonalparksenter (National Park Centre) in Tinn at Skinnarbu, near the lake Møsvatnet, the town Rjukan and the mountain village Rauland.

The Hardangervidda has been occupied for thousands of years; several hundred nomadic Stone Age settlements have been found in the area, most likely related to the migration of the reindeer. Ancient trails cross the plateau, linking western and eastern Norway. One example is the "Nordmannsslepa" linking Eidfjord and Veggli in the Numedal valley with Hol and Uvdal. It is still a key transit route between Oslo and Bergen. The Bergen Line and the main Norwegian National Road 7 cross the plateau.

In 1981, much of the Hardangervidda was designated a national park, Norway's largest at The park's boundaries stretch from Numedal and Uvdal in the east and Røvelseggi and Ullensvang in the west. The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) maintains a comprehensive network of huts and paths across the plateau. It is a popular destination for hiking, climbing and fishing, and in winter for cross country skiing from hut to hut.

Norwegian music projects Ildjarn and Nidhogg combined their talents to produce two ambient albums, one titled "Hardangervidda Part I" (2003) and the other "Hardangervidda Part II" (2003), inspired entirely by this zone. The final two acts of the play When We Dead Awaken (Når vi døde vågner) by Henrik Ibsen, are set in a mountain health resort in Hardangervidda. Location shooting for the Hoth sequences in The Empire Strikes Back took place on the Hardangerjøkulen glacier. The title theme of the Norwegian film O'Horten, by Norwegian composer Kaada, is titled "Across the Hardanger Mountain Plateau" and features a train crossing the area.