Difficult
Folgefonna is the third-largest glacier on mainland Norway, a white dome dominating the Hardanger peninsula between the fjords. The national park, established in 2005, covers 545 square kilometres of glacier, mountain and valley landscape.
The glacier consists of three separate ice caps: Nordre Folgefonna, Midtre Folgefonna and Søndre Folgefonna, the largest of the three. Together they hold enough ice to cover Oslo five metres deep. The glacier arms descend steeply into green valleys, creating a dramatic contrast between ice and lush vegetation. The Buarbreen glacier arm, accessible from Odda, is one of the most photographed glacier fronts in Norway.
Folgefonna was used for summer skiing since the 1890s. The Fonna Glacier Ski Resort on Søndre Folgefonna offered the unusual experience of skiing in T-shirt weather while looking out over green fjord valleys. The resort went bankrupt in late 2024 after years of financial struggle and glacier recession, and the T-bar lift collapsed the following summer. There are plans for a smaller terrain park to replace it, but the era of lift-served glacier skiing on Folgefonna appears to be over. Guided glacier hikes still depart from several starting points around the peninsula.
The glacier consists of three separate ice caps: Nordre Folgefonna, Midtre Folgefonna and Søndre Folgefonna, the largest of the three. Together they hold enough ice to cover Oslo five metres deep. The glacier arms descend steeply into green valleys, creating a dramatic contrast between ice and lush vegetation. The Buarbreen glacier arm, accessible from Odda, is one of the most photographed glacier fronts in Norway.
Folgefonna was used for summer skiing since the 1890s. The Fonna Glacier Ski Resort on Søndre Folgefonna offered the unusual experience of skiing in T-shirt weather while looking out over green fjord valleys. The resort went bankrupt in late 2024 after years of financial struggle and glacier recession, and the T-bar lift collapsed the following summer. There are plans for a smaller terrain park to replace it, but the era of lift-served glacier skiing on Folgefonna appears to be over. Guided glacier hikes still depart from several starting points around the peninsula.