Easy
On top of Bjønneskortanatten at 1,020 metres, on the edge of the Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell nature reserve, stands a statue of the Virgin Mary with a child. A Catholic monument on a Norwegian mountaintop is not something you see every day.
The story goes back to 1989, when Anne Margrethe Bugge donated a large area of forest in Trilledalen and Trillemarka to Sigdal municipality. The condition was that a Madonna statue be erected on top of Leineåsen. Bugge died in 1995 before the statue was built, and the municipality discovered they could not get permission from the state to place it at the original location. So they found a new spot, Bjønneskortanatten, placed exactly 100 metres outside the boundary of the nature reserve. The statue, sculpted in light granite by Turid Angell Eng, was flown up by helicopter and unveiled on 20 June 2009. Twenty years from donation to dedication.
The trail, Madonnastien, starts at the Utvollane parking near Vestbygda outside Eggedal. To get there, take road 287 to Eggedal from Åmot, which lies between Hokksund and Vikersund. Follow signs to Madonnaen. There is a toll road, 70 kroner by card, then 7 kilometres to the car park, which has about 100 spaces.
The trail itself is easy. In 2016, Nepalese Sherpas built a stone staircase along the route, and it has since been called one of Norway's finest hiking trails. The round trip is about 6 kilometres with 330 metres of ascent. Count on just over two hours of walking and three to four hours total. There are two paths to the top, so you can go up one way and come down the other. On the way back, you pass Svarttjern pond, where there is a campfire site with a shelter. The lower section of that return path is wheelchair accessible.
The summit is flat with space to sit and enjoy the view. Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell stretches out below you, 147 square kilometres of old-growth forest that was formally protected in 2008. It is one of the largest nature reserves in central eastern Norway, home to 93 red-listed species. This is a part of Norway where foreign tourists rarely go. The people on this trail are almost exclusively Norwegian.
The story goes back to 1989, when Anne Margrethe Bugge donated a large area of forest in Trilledalen and Trillemarka to Sigdal municipality. The condition was that a Madonna statue be erected on top of Leineåsen. Bugge died in 1995 before the statue was built, and the municipality discovered they could not get permission from the state to place it at the original location. So they found a new spot, Bjønneskortanatten, placed exactly 100 metres outside the boundary of the nature reserve. The statue, sculpted in light granite by Turid Angell Eng, was flown up by helicopter and unveiled on 20 June 2009. Twenty years from donation to dedication.
The trail, Madonnastien, starts at the Utvollane parking near Vestbygda outside Eggedal. To get there, take road 287 to Eggedal from Åmot, which lies between Hokksund and Vikersund. Follow signs to Madonnaen. There is a toll road, 70 kroner by card, then 7 kilometres to the car park, which has about 100 spaces.
The trail itself is easy. In 2016, Nepalese Sherpas built a stone staircase along the route, and it has since been called one of Norway's finest hiking trails. The round trip is about 6 kilometres with 330 metres of ascent. Count on just over two hours of walking and three to four hours total. There are two paths to the top, so you can go up one way and come down the other. On the way back, you pass Svarttjern pond, where there is a campfire site with a shelter. The lower section of that return path is wheelchair accessible.
The summit is flat with space to sit and enjoy the view. Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell stretches out below you, 147 square kilometres of old-growth forest that was formally protected in 2008. It is one of the largest nature reserves in central eastern Norway, home to 93 red-listed species. This is a part of Norway where foreign tourists rarely go. The people on this trail are almost exclusively Norwegian.