Hjerkinn sits at the highest point on the E6 across Dovrefjell, 1,017 metres above sea level. The Hjerkinn Mountain Lodge has served travellers here since the 18th century and is now in its 12th or 13th generation of the same family: one of Norway's oldest family businesses.
But the bigger story is what happened next door. For over 80 years, the Norwegian Armed Forces used 165 square kilometres around Hjerkinn as their largest shooting range in southern Norway. When the military finally left, the government decided to do something unprecedented: give it all back to nature. The restoration project ran from 2008 to 2021, cost 60 million euros, and involved removing nearly 5,000 unexploded bombs and grenades, 550 tonnes of scrap metal, over 100 buildings, and 90 kilometres of roads. The area is now incorporated into Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, and wild reindeer graze where tanks once drove. It is the largest nature restoration project in Norwegian history.
But the bigger story is what happened next door. For over 80 years, the Norwegian Armed Forces used 165 square kilometres around Hjerkinn as their largest shooting range in southern Norway. When the military finally left, the government decided to do something unprecedented: give it all back to nature. The restoration project ran from 2008 to 2021, cost 60 million euros, and involved removing nearly 5,000 unexploded bombs and grenades, 550 tonnes of scrap metal, over 100 buildings, and 90 kilometres of roads. The area is now incorporated into Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, and wild reindeer graze where tanks once drove. It is the largest nature restoration project in Norwegian history.