THE WILD TELEMARK
Experience
Take an adventure into nature, heritage, culture and history that is unique. Just 90 minutes from downtown Oslo, easily accessible with friendly and welcoming people ready to make your visit one to remember.
The Wild Telemark website contains practical information making your visit easier and more interesting. At the same time, we invite you into this world where the glaciers of the last Ice Age have carved out steep mountains and deep valleys where crystal clear lakes and rivers, endless forests and high plains await your visit.
Adventure
Experience this region that was Norway’s ‘Wild West’, full of mystery, a land of natural beauty - respected – and feared. Now, we welcome the world with open arms.
Natural, musical and cultural heritage here are balanced with the story of the birthplace of the 2nd Industrial Revolution – clean hydroelectricity. We have created the world’s first e-book about a UNESCO world heritage site, which you can download for free here.
It was in 1905 that the visionary Sam Eyde arrived in the region and declared he was going to tame the thundering waterfalls of the region to create new industries driven by hydroelectric power – a radical new concept. It changed the world here forever.
Discover
Discover and learn - with all photos on the Wild Telemark website, you can click on any photo for more information and location.
Why is this region called the Wild Telemark? Scroll down to learn more.
Now it is easy to visit the Wild Telemark, but it wasn’t always so.
For centuries, the only way into this region now just a few hours outside of Oslo, was to make their way over the remote and often dangerous high mountain plateau of Hardangervidda, or through the endless forests to the south and west. People who came north to this region discovered that surviving the long harsh winters was difficult.
The Wild Telemark was Norway’s ‘Wild West’, full of mystery, music and fairy tales, a land of natural beauty from the rugged mountains in the north to the pastures, lakes and river to the coastline in the south.
The Wild Telemark was a defiantly independent region where the taxman and the preacher man dared not tread. Here, small farm and landowners honoured their Norse Viking tradition and rituals as they had for many centuries – with protection and vengeance.
But no more. Now it is filled with welcoming, friendly and colourful people ready to share their heritage and their stories with you.
Still, it is such a different world. Take time to explore!