My first trip to Utah was in 1999, and although there were already plenty of internet sites back then information on even popular hikes was pretty hard to find. As a result my brother and I got to do some of the classic hikes like the Zion Narrows and Angels Landing with only a vague idea of what to expect. That kind of experience is rarer now, when searches for even obscure trails in the US return hundreds of photos, but there’s plenty of wilderness elsewhere with less of an internet presence! Planning a trip to Bodo in arctic Norway last summer – primarily as a base to visit the Lofoten Islands – we noticed that Rago National Park was just a short drive from the town. Rago has one famous sight, the incredible Litlverivassfossen waterfall, and it looked like one could combine the two front-country trails to make a long day hike that looped past the falls. We couldn’t find any web pages that described the loop in detail, so we turned up at the trail head in late July with a map but only a rough idea of the length or difficulty of the hike. It turned out to be one of the best day hikes we’ve done.

Looking down along the Storskogelva valley

The hike starts at the end of the road at the Lakshola trail head, reached by following the E6 north from Fauske and then taking the turn toward Nordfjord which comes immediately after a short tunnel. The road is paved all the way and the trail head is notable for having the fanciest restroom, by far, that I’ve ever seen gracing a wilderness! The first two miles follow the Storskogdalen along a peaceful and surprisingly lush forest. On a pleasant summer Sunday we encountered a pair of locals on this stretch of trail, the only other hikers we met or saw all day. At a bend in the valley the trail crosses a creek (at a spot that’s not entirely obvious on the ground