Category: Verdal

In search of new and exciting experiences, we had checked a couple of times in Verdal, whether there could be anything spectacular in the mountains near the Swedish border. And yes, there are lots of things to discover! In Verdal, the ground is made of limestone, making up a typical ‘karst‘ landscape.

At Ramstad, there are several gorges, waterfalls and caves, and we were aiming for Svartfossen (The Black Waterfall).

It is only a few hundred meters from the car park to the waterfall, and the path is nice. What could go wrong this time? Not much, it turned out – except for lack of water! It was winter and everything was frozen. Correction: Everything was not frozen solid, we heard the water beneath us as we walked on the ice into the gill. But bathing? The conclusion is that Svartfossen does not provide a bathing environment during winter time.

We were disappointed, but tried again six months later.

Summertime is just the right time for a bath in Svartfossen!

After a refreshing bath, time was just perfect for an excursion. Knut wanted to see if there was anything to explore upstream the waterfall, and a beautiful path has been made to get there.

There were several nice pools in the river above Svartfossen. But Idun thought it looked dangerous, so no more bathing this time.

And that was it, you think? Both yes and no. We were a bit curious about the caves, if we could find one of them. A short distance below Svartfossen, after the Ramsåa has split, you will find a small cave entrance to the left of the river, by a 20-year-old logging field.

No cave exploration was done, even though we found one of the two entrances. We weren’t equipped for that. Wrong clothes, wrong shoes, no light, and no rope. But the Svartfoss bath was so nice, that our mood was still high.

Verdalselva is quiet and calm and got its name from that fact. But you don’t have to go very much further up the valley before there are bigger heights and waterfalls. We wanted more fun, and drove up Helgådalen (the Holy River Valley) in search of a suitable waterfall or two. Then suddenly we saw this:

… and that took us back to the heavy duty parties at the Trøndelag countryside in the 80’s, when the song ‘Ulvillavisa‘ was often in the repertoire: ‘Får æ’tj ei pøls, så hoppe æ i ælva, i Ølvilla.‘ (“If I don’t get a sausage, I’ll jump into the river, into Ulvilla!”) Funny! Maybe we could even bathe in Ulvilla, as the song suggests?

It remained a thought. The lower part of Ulvilla was just not very tempting, so we dropped the bath. But not without protests.

And it’s certainly not a crisis if you skip a bathing place or two in Verdalen. There are plenty to choose from, not least a large number of waterfalls in the rivers Inna, Helgåa and Skjævra. Our next attempt was Granfossen in Helgåa, but it was a bit difficult to access the waterfall with the footwear we had, so we went on to Skjækerfossen.

What a place! The waterfall is 22.5 m high, wide and beautiful. And this is historical ground. There used to be furnaces for nickel ore from the Dyråa mines in Skjækerdalen: ‘Værdalens Nikkel og Kobberværk’. The ore was transported to Skjækerfossen by horse in winter, since Dyråa river doesn’t have enough slope to run the smelter cabin’s bellows. The sulfur was removed by burning charcoal, resulting in emissions causing forest death in a 50 m wide area every year. Dead trees were cut to firewood for the smelting process. The nickel was transported by horse carriages to the fjord (at Skånes), a transport that was more expensive than the Skånes-England transport, and therefore greatly contributed to the Verdal nickel industry lasting only 10 years.

There is also a memorial by the waterfall, honoring the border refugee guides, who saved many lives during WWII. It is estimated that 7-800 people fled to Sweden through Helgådalen during the 5 years of war. None of these routes were ever revealed. The stone was unveiled in 2006.

A tent camp was set up at Skjækerfossen in the spring of 1945, as they were looking for 25 members of the Rinnan gang, who tried to flee to Sweden after the peace treaty. Magne Solheim from Målselv arrested Henry Oliver Rinnan at Flyvollen farm on the 14/5-1945. Rinnan was convicted and executed by a firing squad at the Festningen Fortress in Trondheim 1/2-47. Rinnan assisted in the torture of at least 1,000 people, the murder of more than 80, and he was convicted of murdering 13 people.

However, we didn’t need a tent – to get a bath. On the other hand, there was a bit of climbing in rough terrain, and as usual we laughed at the idiocy of carrying swimwear in bags instead of backpacks.

But swimming in Skjækerfossen? No, it was too scary for Idun. The waterfall is deep, and Idun was afraid she wouldn’t be able to drag herself back onto the ice. It was therefore only Knut who bathed.

… with subsequent intense discussions about how to solve this problem. What we needed was a ladder, but it is not particularly practical to bring a ladder into the car. The solution: Laider, of course. And we actually had one at home, in Trondheim, which the children got from grandpa and once used in a tree in the garden.

It was great! An absolutely splendid bath. No dangerous incidents of the type of ice falling down (we didn’t swim tight up to the waterfall).

However, the ice is sharp, so a little blood on the knees must be expected. Otherwise, like the Icelanders, we say: ‘Everything was just fine!‘

It is quite fabulous to have a bath in Skjækerfossen. Also mid-winter! But of course; the water flow is most likely more impressive in spring and summer.

North in Trøndelag, shaped like a triangle, between the inner Trondheimsfjord and the Swedish border, is Verdal municipality located. Here, ‘the border between municipalities’ was set a very long time ago, and there have been only 3 changes in historical time (!). The first change occurred when the border river against Levanger (Rinnelva) changed its way, while the second occurred shortly after The Black Death, when the farms at Leksdalsvannet were abandoned. The third boundary change came in 1917, when a new school was needed in Feren, Meråker municipality. And, actually, Verdal did get away with no changes in the much debated municipal reform in 2020.

Verdal has 15,000 inhabitants, of which more than half live in the administrative center Verdalsøra. Humans have lived here for a long time! There are a number of ancient monuments in the municipality, especially many burial mounds, but otherwise Verdal is perhaps best known for the site Stiklestad Battlefield (called “Stekstad” by the locals).

15 km upwards from the fjord, the two rivers Helgåa and Inna run together to form Verdalselva. The name comes from the old word ‘Ver’, which means quiet, calm. This sounded perfect for a swimming adventure. We wanted to swim there!

But this January evening was very dark. We became aware that ‘how to climb into the river’ was not very clear. And Knut had that bad prolapse back. Actually, this bath turned into a ‘not’.

… at first attempt, that is. The next day, in daylight, we went a little further upstream. And just downstream ‘Nybrua’ (the New Bridge), we found Bjarnebukta (Bjarne Bay). This seemed to be a great place to swim!

The water was still and beautiful. And the ducks swam to meet us. Bjarne, however, we didn’t see. Is it Bjarne who owns the place? Or has there been a bear (“Bjørn” in Norwegian) here a long, long time ago? Please notify us if you know!

Well… The bath itself was nice, but the swimwear didn’t quite have any deliciuos scent afterwards. Perhaps Verdalselva will not be our favorite bathing place after all? It seems that Verdal municipality never takes any quality check of bathing spots. So bathing is at your own risk.

After a bath in Verdal, it is a good idea to go to the theatre. Verdal Teaterlag is a very active institution, while we are optimistic and chose the musical ‘Otpimist’ with music by Jahn Teigen.