Gamle Strynefjellsveg is one of the roads the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has developed as a tourist route in Norway. Along these routes, facilities and information points have been established specifically with tourists in mind, so that the trip in itself is an experience.
General information about travelling along Gamle Strynefjellsveg is available on information boards at Grotli Høyfjellshotell and Jostedalsbreen National Park Centre. We hope that you will enjoy a memorable trip through fantastic high mountain nature.
Gamle Stryneflellsveg was the only travel route between Skjåk and Stryn up until the year-round road was opened in 1978. The year-round road across Strynefjellet mountain (Rv. 15) is the main route connecting eastern Norway with north-western Norway.
Gamle Strynefjellsveg is closed during the winter, but in the summer the road (Rv. 258) can serve as an alternative route the 27 km between Grotli and Videseterkrysset. There you also will find a summer skiing centre.
In ancient times, there were several routes between Skjåk and Stryn. The old routes were used only for pack horses and riding, and the local farmers were obligated to keep the routes passable. The main artery between east and west passes through Sundalen and Raudalen.
In earlier times, the main traffic artery between east and west passed through Sundalen and Raudalen. In 1881 a decision was taken to build a road over Strynefjellet from Hjelle to Grotli. In 1894, the first travellers could travel across the mountain by car. At the time, Gamle Strynefjellsveg was viewed as a masterpiece of road building. Today it is primarily the beautiful stone strctures that catch our attention – along Langvatnet lake, at Tystigen and Videster, and not least of all the famous Jøl bridge. Swedish migrant workers and villagers on both sides of the mountain participated in the road construction work. The work was grueling, and the food and accommodations were poor. The workdays were often long. The season lasted from when the snow melted in June or July until out in September.
Up until the 1950s, Strynefjellsvegen was partly cleared manually of snow during the autumn. A stretch of about 50 km was cleared by 200 men with shovels, half starting on each side of the mountain. The snow was shovelled from man to man, and often had to be repeated after a sudden summer snowstorm.
In the middle of the mountain, the snow could be as much as several metres deep. The first snow clearing machines came to Strynefjellet in the 1940s.
In 1969, work started on the year-round road across Strynefjellet. The road – which has three tunnels and passes through 12 km in all – was finished in 1978.