Finnskogen, the Finnish Forest, is a 32-kilometre-wide belt of deep woodland running along the Norwegian-Swedish border through the municipalities of Kongsvinger, Grue, Åsnes and Våler. The name tells you who shaped this landscape.
In the late 1500s and early 1600s, families from eastern Finland migrated westward through Sweden and into these border forests. They were svedjebruk farmers, specialists in slash-and-burn agriculture who felled trees, burned the clearings, and sowed rye in the ash. The technique was perfectly suited to the dense, uninhabited forests here, and Norwegian authorities initially welcomed the settlers for opening up unused land. Within a few generations, dozens of small Finnish communities dotted the hills between Glomma and the Swedish border.
The Forest Finns brought customs that did not exist in Norwegian culture before. They built røykstuer, smoke rooms heated by large stone ovens with no chimney, where the family lived, cooked, and slept in a room blackened by soot. They built badstuer, smoke saunas, for bathing and healing. Around Lake Røgden, which straddles the border south of Svullrya, you will find the world's densest surviving concentration of traditional smoke saunas. They had their own food traditions too, including motti (a thick porridge of bark and grain) and a distinctive flatbread baked on hot stones.
The Forest Finns are today one of Norway's five officially recognised national minorities, alongside the Sámi, Kvener, Jews, and Roma. Their story is told at the Norsk Skogfinsk Museum in Svullrya, which opened in 2025 after 25 years of planning.
The forest itself remains remarkably wild. Wolves, bears, lynx, and wolverines all live here, making Finnskogen one of the few places in southern Norway where all four large predators overlap. Elk are common, and birdlife is rich in the bog and lake areas.
The Finnskogleden hiking trail runs 240 kilometres from Morokulien in the south to Søre Osen in the north, crossing the Norwegian-Swedish border seven times. It passes through old Finnish settlement sites, past smoke saunas and abandoned clearings that are slowly returning to forest. The trail is typically hiked over 10 to 14 days, though shorter sections work well for day hikes or weekend trips.
Paddling is another way to experience the area. Lakes like Røgden, Vermundsjøen, and Gjesåssjøen are connected by rivers and portage routes that the Finnish settlers once used for transport. Fishing for pike, perch, and trout is popular in the many forest lakes.
In the late 1500s and early 1600s, families from eastern Finland migrated westward through Sweden and into these border forests. They were svedjebruk farmers, specialists in slash-and-burn agriculture who felled trees, burned the clearings, and sowed rye in the ash. The technique was perfectly suited to the dense, uninhabited forests here, and Norwegian authorities initially welcomed the settlers for opening up unused land. Within a few generations, dozens of small Finnish communities dotted the hills between Glomma and the Swedish border.
The Forest Finns brought customs that did not exist in Norwegian culture before. They built røykstuer, smoke rooms heated by large stone ovens with no chimney, where the family lived, cooked, and slept in a room blackened by soot. They built badstuer, smoke saunas, for bathing and healing. Around Lake Røgden, which straddles the border south of Svullrya, you will find the world's densest surviving concentration of traditional smoke saunas. They had their own food traditions too, including motti (a thick porridge of bark and grain) and a distinctive flatbread baked on hot stones.
The Forest Finns are today one of Norway's five officially recognised national minorities, alongside the Sámi, Kvener, Jews, and Roma. Their story is told at the Norsk Skogfinsk Museum in Svullrya, which opened in 2025 after 25 years of planning.
The forest itself remains remarkably wild. Wolves, bears, lynx, and wolverines all live here, making Finnskogen one of the few places in southern Norway where all four large predators overlap. Elk are common, and birdlife is rich in the bog and lake areas.
The Finnskogleden hiking trail runs 240 kilometres from Morokulien in the south to Søre Osen in the north, crossing the Norwegian-Swedish border seven times. It passes through old Finnish settlement sites, past smoke saunas and abandoned clearings that are slowly returning to forest. The trail is typically hiked over 10 to 14 days, though shorter sections work well for day hikes or weekend trips.
Paddling is another way to experience the area. Lakes like Røgden, Vermundsjøen, and Gjesåssjøen are connected by rivers and portage routes that the Finnish settlers once used for transport. Fishing for pike, perch, and trout is popular in the many forest lakes.
