Indre Fosen – Patricia McLellan's Blog

For many years I have wanted to try out a trail that goes uphill from Hestdal Power Plant which is located about 12 km west of the center of the village of Leksvik, though it’s mailing address is Vanvikan, which is even farther west. We wanted a day away from the house, and the weather was promising to be suitable for a lengthy walk, which for us is two to three hours.

These signs have captured my curiosity several times over the years and the 4th of July 2024 was the day we picked to see what this trail was like.

Liatjønna, Mosvik

But before I take you on this walk, I’ll explain what we did before we got to the parking spot by this sign. My husband likes walking around lakes. There are many lakes in Inderøy, but there was one small lake on our way to Hestdalen. We often stop here as it is not far from the road, and there is a very nice walk around part of the lake. It doesn’t take very long, and is a very flat walk. One goes back the same way as one came as the path only goes about halfway round the lake.

Liatjønna, the small lake, in Mosvik. This picture is taken from the far end. There are three ramps that go out into the lake and allow handicapped people to go fishing in the lake.

The water level of the lake is kept pretty much at the same level by this small dam. When the water rises above a certain level, it drains away into a stream that leads to a much larger lake which is used for electricity production.

After a short walk we continued driving westwards to the village of Leksvik, where Brock used to work at the high school, and kept on going for about 12 km, to get to Hestdal.

Hestdal, Indre Fosen

We parked near these red buildings. Hestal e-verk (Hestdal Power Plant) is privately owned and produces about 4 GWh a year. It uses water that falls about 120 meters. The original equipment was from 1940, but it was modernized in 2004.

Hestdal electricity production buildings

So we started the walk, and I wasn’t sure how far we would make it. The information online about the walk indicates that there is an elevation climb of over 400 meters if one wants to get to the top, to Himmelriket, the kingdom of the sky. The signs at the parking area indicate that the top is over 4 km, one way. An 8 km walk is too much for us now, so I was prepared to not make it to the top, but was interested to see what there was up the trail.

We followed a road uphill. This is looking back at where we came from. One can see across the fjord to Frosta which is a farming community. The road is actually a lot steeper than it looks.

At about 130 meters above sea level, we came to a clearing with an interesting rest spot. We were proud of our efforts, but a short rest was pleasant before we continued on up the hill.

The view from the rest spot. Lumber has been piled up here, so there must be some maintenance work being done somewhere nearby.

These grow wild here, usually in the ditch at the side of the road where it is quite damp and shady.

We were steadily climbing uphill almost the whole time, but once we were above the intake to the power plant, we could hear the river as it tumbled over the rocks. By July, most streams and rivers have finished carrying the spring melt water down to the sea, and they are draining lakes. A look at an official Norwegian map ( https://atlas.nve.no) that shows lakes used for hydro power production, shows that this stream drains five lakes up in the hills. These lakes would all have dams on them to regulate their outflow of water.

This was the first crossing of Hestdal River. We are still following a road that one could drive a vehicle on, though some of the sections of the road are quite steep, so an ATV or four-wheel drive vehicle would be necessary.

We continued walking along the road and not really able to gauge how far we had come. I’m no good at judging distance when walking, especially when I stop to take photos as much to have the photos as to take a break from the climbing. The road itself was easy to walk along, but some of the sections were quite steep. The ground was dry and the gravel was loose. When we turned around and walked downhill, we had to be careful that we didn’t slip on the loose gravel.

Looking up to “Himmelriket”, the kingdom of the sky, I knew we would never make it up that high.

Eventually we came to where there was a divide in the paths. We could continue to follow the road which went to a stone quarry which was 6.5 km from the parking lot, or we could head off across a small bridge over the river and climb up to the sky. We decided to do the latter. So we crossed the bridge.

A second trail took off towards Himmelriket, the kingdom of the sky.

Hestdal River where we crossed it on a wooden bridge. The trail went off to the right in this picture.

Hestdal River as it flows downhill to the hydro power plant.

The trail to Himmelriket became very narrow and much more difficult to walk along.

We had now been walking about 50 minutes and I figure that we had climbed about 200 meters in elevation. I knew we would never make it to the top. We discussed this narrow trail and made the decision to go back to the gravel road and walk along it a bit more. We were out to enjoy ourselves. We are in our mid-70s and have to accept what we actually can do at our age. I no longer want to walk on such narrow trails, that are uneven with roots, and reaching the sky is not a goal.

So we continued on, up the hill, following the gravel road and the river. We crossed the river again. I was enjoying the walk, but starting to get tired as it had been all uphill with a few flat stretches as you can see in the picture below. The day was sunny but not too warm, about 19 degrees.

Crossing Hestdal River again. We had been walking about an hour and 20 minutes when I took this picture.

After we had been walking for an hour and a half, including the short breaks we had taken to either take pictures or catch our breath, we decided it was time for a proper break. There was no sign of any appropriate place to stop, so we just sat down at the side of the road to eat our sandwiches and drink our water. My estimate, afterwards, is that we had walked about 3 km so far, and we still had to get back to the car. We didn’t sit for very long, as the flies and ants liked us a little bit too much. But it was good with a bit of food and water before starting the downhill trek.

The road kept on going and going uphill, so we took a break, had our sandwiches and water, then started downhill.

We used about an hour to get back to the car. We changed our socks and shoes, and that was very pleasant on the feet. We shared a chocolate bar and had a cup of coffee each, while sitting at the back of our car. My curiosity was partly satisfied. I had had a pleasant time on the walk, but it was perhaps a bit more strenuous and longer than I was used to.

It was good to be back at the car, to share a chocolate bar and have a warm drink. Soon we were on our way home.

It was a good day trip for us. We got one short easy walk, and one longer walk that was perhaps a bit too long for us. We were away from home for over 5 hours, which was part of the point of the day.

Note: I have an offline map on my smartphone which is quite useful. I found that on this walk, if I tapped on the position indicator, then on “details”, it could tell me my elevation. At the last place that we stopped it said that we were at 311 meters above sea level. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but it at least gives an indication. While writing this blog, and using an online map that shows the terrain, I estimate that we were at about 210 meters above sea level. So there was quite a difference. I think I would prefer to rely on the official online map.

The start of route 755

Route 755 begins at the E6 intersection in Røra, in the municipality of Inderøy. The E6 is a south-north major highway route through Norway, having started at the southern tip of Sweden, running up the west coast of Sweden and continuing north through Norway and ending at Kirkenes, close to the Russian border.

Route 755 runs east to west from the intersection at Røra to the intersection at Vanvikan with Route 715, which is another south-north route.

When driving from the south on the E6, and you see this building, make the next left-hand turn. This is our local juice and jam factory.

When driving from the south this is the intersection of the E6 and route 755. There is a left-hand turn lane. The 755 goes to Vanvikan about 91 km away.

Coming from the south one makes a left-hand turn. In the years while I was working at Verdal Senior Secondary School, I went through this intersection twice a day. However, this is not how the intersection has always been. When I first started working in Verdal in 1988, there was a level crossing of the train tracks here, which created long line-ups in rush hour traffic as trains go by here at least twice an hour on working days. The current intersection opened in 2005 and everyone was glad when there was a bridge for the train and the road went under the train tracks.

The sign tells us that route 755 will take you to Straumen, Mosvik, Leksvik and Vanvikan. The closest bridge is the train bridge and the farther bridge is for cars and pedestrians. The intersection is a right-hand turn and just past both bridges. Note the farms in the background.

Approaching the intersection of the E6 and route 755 from the north. One makes a right-hand turn. The cars now drive under the railway tracks. The bridge you see is for cars and pedestrians.

Another view of the intersection, taken from the car bridge over the E6.

Røra to Straumen

Røra is a housing area in Inderøy municipality and also features one elementary school quite close to this intersection, one railway station on the railway line from Trondheim to Bodø (called Nordlandsbanen). In addition there are several companies that are located here, including a jam and juice company and several construction companies.

I am standing on a pedestrian/bicycle path beside Route 755, looking westwards.

A note about signs in Norway. The blue sign indicates that pedestrians and cyclists are to use the provided path. The yellow sign tells which route you are on (755) and the distances to major places along the route: Leksvik (62 km), Mosvik (25 km) and Straumen (7 km). The white sign indicates a business, in this case a hotel, Jægtvolden which is 10 km from here.

Route 755 is about 91 kilometers long, but it passes through various types of terrain, including farmland, shoreline on fjords, river valleys and forest-clad hills. The road goes downhill and uphill and rarely has straight sections. (See the Wikipedia article in English for other information.) For me, the importance of this route is that I used it for 30 years as part of my commute to work in Verdal. Now we mostly travel from home to Straumen. Every now and then we travel west of Mosvik. My husband worked in Leksvik for many years and he knew that section of the road a bit too well.

As one drives west from Røra, first the road passes the elementary school and the industrial area. Then it crosses farm fields before it goes downhill to Borgenfjorde, also called Bjørgin. Borgenfjord is tidal seawater and stretches north into Steinkjer municipality and is flanked by farm fields on all sides.

Borgenfjord on a day when the water was very still and gave beautiful reflections. Here the road runs along the edge of the fjord.

When a road runs along the edge of a fjord, it is never straight. It winds this way and that and reduces the speed that one can drive at. Here the speed limit is 70 km an hour, but I usually drive it at 60 kmph or even less when it is covered in snow or ice.

After crossing Straumbrua and the swiftly flowing current under it, one comes to Straumen, the municipal center of Inderøy and 7 km from the start of route 755. Here you find shops, a bank, three levels of schools , an art gallery and a lot of housing, both single family dwellings and apartments. There is also the intersection with a road leading to Steinkjer (route 761).

Straumen is seen in the distance, across Borgenfjord.

Straumbrua – Straumen Bridge built in 1958.

Straumen to Mosvik

Continuing west along route 755 one sees both the new church and the old church and continues between more farms on both sides of the road.

Looking west from the old church in Straumen, This part of the road is one that we have driven hundreds of times in the 32 years we have lived in Inderøy.

From Straumen, route 755 gives good views over Trondheim Fjord as the road follows the curves of the hillside and takes one through the area called Utøy to Skarnsund Bridge. Driving home from work along this road over the years, I watched the clouds discharging their loads, moving in the winds, or reflecting sunlight. It was never a boring route to drive, unless behind a slow moving tractor.

In its first years, Skarnsund Bridge was a toll bridge and we rarely drove over it, though we would walk over it for the exercise. Now that it is free, we drive over it regularly to go to Mosvik.

Skarnsund Bridge is a little over a kilometer long and bridges the gap between the peninsula of Inderøy and Mosvik. There will a separate blog article about the bridge and how it was built.

Once you have crossed the bridge the road mostly hugs the coastline along the fjord until you come to Mosvik.. You can see more about Mosvik in a previous blog.

Mosvik to Leksvik

This impressive mansion lies on the hill overlooking Mosvik. The landowners own a large part of the forest in Mosvik which is used to provide income.

From Mosvik route 755 heads inland, and over the hills, around the lakes and through the forest. There are few farms and a lot of wild areas. The road can be a bit lonely, especially in the winter when it is covered in ice and snow. There isn’t the same amount of traffic on this section of the road as between our home and Straumen.

The barrier in the road is to keep sheep on the far side. In the summer months, one must be prepared to see sheep either wandering along the road, or even sleeping on the warm asphalt. We were lucky that the sheep weren’t out yet.

This is a typical section of the road “over the forest”, as they say in Norwegian. Photo courtesy of Alasdair McLellan while I was driving.

Liatjønna, one of many small lakes along this road. This lake, or tern, has been made accessible for wheelchair users and fishing is allowed, as long as you pay a fee.

Every year this rock, that sticks out a bit in a bend of the road, is repainted by the secondary school graduates of Leksvik. This seems to be from last year’s graduates. Perhaps the pandemic has influenced this year’s graduates. Photo courtesy of Alasdair McLellan, taken while the car was in movement and through the windshield.

One large lake along route 755 is Melting Lake, which is used to provide hydro power.

Eventually the road comes out of the forest and heads downhill through farms to the village of Leksvik which lies on Trondheim fjord. We are now in the neighboring municipality of Indre Fosen.

Coming down from the top of the hill into Leksvik – here the valley opens out and the land is farmed. Facing south, the slope captures a lot of sunshine.

We stopped at the church as it is on the hill before going down into the village. Especially in rural areas, cemeteries are usually located beside the church. Down at the water’s edge, there is an industrial area. Up on the hill is agricultural land.

Leksvik to Vanvikan

As we continue westwards from Leksvik, the road mostly runs along the coastline affording views of Trondheim on the south side of the fjord.

Trondheim Fjord is quite wide at this point. Trondheim is in the center of the picture on the far side of the fjord.

This is looking back from where we came, in other words, looking eastwards. This is a very typical type of road in Norway.

We saw several waterfalls and this one we stopped and walked back to get pictures. Lakes and streams at the top of the hill will still have snow run-off, though there isn’t much snow left now on the tops around here. This stream is called Bjørnåa and the water falls 200 meters to the fjord.

One interesting stop along this route was at Hestdal Hydro Power plant, a small independent electricity production plant.

Here’s the stream that feeds the power plant which is in the red buildings on the right of the stream.

The red building in the center houses the power plant. It was quite noisy beside that building.

I found a dusty window I could get my camera to peek in. It was a beautiful blue turbine at work.

The stream is in the background and the water that has been used to turn the turbine can be seen coming out at the bottom of the picture. There had been lots of rain recently, plus there was still snow on the tops of the hills here, so water was still plentiful.

Vanvikan and the end of route 755

Vanvikan is a very small village of about 700 residents. There are some small industries here and you can get an express passenger boat from here to cross the fjord to Trondheim. We were lucky that one came in just after we had parked to look around.

We were in Vanvikan on a Sunday and there were quite a few people both getting off the boat and also going to Trondheim.. The crossing takes 25 minutes and on a Sunday it goes about every two hours.

I must admit I was impressed at how little space the catamaran needed to turn around before heading out of the small harbor and back to Trondheim. You can see some of the village of Vanvikan to the left of the boat.

Finally we came to the end of route 755.

Route 755 ends in a T-intersection with route 715. If you turn to the left, you can get to a car ferry across the fjord towards Trondheim. You can also continue around the southern tip of this peninsula which is called Fosen. If you turn to the right, you can travel north and find many small villages and eventually make a round trip and get back to Inderøy.

We, of course, had to turn around and drive home again and this was the first sign that indicated the speed limit (60 km per hour) and the route number (755).

The pictures for this blog have been taken on more than one occasion. We took a drive from our house to Vanvikan one Sunday morning, but with all the stops it took a lot longer than I had been expecting. In the end we drove straight home from Vanvikan with no further stops and it took us about 75 minutes.

The pictures of Røra and Straumen were taken on a different occasion and this section of the road I travel quite a lot.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog article. You will find other blog articles about different things along this route, including a walk at Liatjønna, the center of Mosvik, the tidal walk in Straumen and Skarnsund Bridge (to be coming soon).

Category: Indre Fosen

Hestdalen, Indre Fosen