The highest mountains in the national park rise over 2000 meters above sea level, while the lowest point is at the bottom of Trollveggen at approximately 130 meters above sea level.
In the south and east, the terrain gently slopes with rounded formations and undulating mountain plateaus. This area is important for hunting, fishing and livestock grazing, and is off the beaten track in relation to tourists.
In Tafjord and the Romsdal mountains, in the western part of the national park, the terrain is steeper and features waymarked hiking trails and accommodation options at tourist cabins. In the northwest, the landscape is more dramatic with the Trollstigen pass and the steep Trolltind mountains, where Trollveggen is known as one of Europe’s highest vertical cliffs, rising 1700 meters from the valley floor.
The national park is home to much of the original alpine ecosystem, including wild reindeer, wolverines, golden eagles, gyrfalcons and ptarmigan. Reinheimen is particularly rich in cultural monuments from the ancient wild reindeer trapping culture. Visitors can see pitfall traps, mass trapping systems, hunting hides and the remnants of ancient shelters used by local hunters.
The protected landscapes are home to valuable cultural landscapes, with a rich diversity of species linked to summer farming, haymaking and livestock grazing.
Nature conservation is one of the most important tools we have for safeguarding biodiversity and slowing climate change.
In Norway, national parks are large natural areas that are protected to preserve important natural assets and cultural heritage, and to safeguard the areas against development, pollution and other activities that may harm natural and cultural assets. At the same time, the national parks are meant to provide visitors with rewarding experiences of nature without harming the protected assets.
Norway’s national parks are home to natural environments of exceptional quality and are often referred to as the ‘finest gems’ of Norwegian nature.
Protected areas in Reinheimen
The national park is located in the municipalities of Fjord and Rauma in Møre og Romsdal County, and in Lesja, Lom, Skjåk and Vågå municipalities in Innlandet County.
Reinheimen is Norway’s third largest national park, and there are also six protected landscapes and five nature reserves in the Reinheimen area.
Read more about the different protected areas on the National Park Board’s website
Wild reindeer
Wild reindeer require large areas and inhabit almost the entire national park, well adapted to life in the high mountains. The winter herd consists of approximately 2000 animals and is one of the most productive in the country. With intact habitats used throughout the year for calving and rearing, as well as summer and winter grazing, Reinheimen is part of the last large wild reindeer areas in Europe.
Wild reindeer are vulnerable to disturbance and human activity, especially in winter and during the spring calving season. If you encounter wild reindeer on your trip, keep at a good distance and move slowly away in the opposite direction.
Birds
More than 115 breeding bird species have been recorded within the protected areas. The rich deciduous forest slopes along Tafjorden and Romsdalen valley provide a habitat for various songbirds and woodpeckers. Visitors may catch a glimpse of capercaillie and black grouse in the lower farming valleys, while willow ptarmigan find shelter along the sides of the mountain valleys. In addition, rock ptarmigan can be seen further up in the high mountains. The area’s ravines and river gorges are important nesting areas for birds of prey.
Many species of wetland birds can be found around the lakes and watercourses. Leirungsvatnet lake and Råkåvatnet lake are particularly important, hosting many species of breeding wetland birds. Among them, greater scaups, long-tailed ducks and common scoters are on the Red List of Threatened Species. The birdlife found along the Finna watercourse is also unique and is of great national importance.
Several of the bird species in the higher‑lying areas of forest and mountains have marginal conditions for raising their young. A short breeding season and challenging weather conditions make the birdlife vulnerable to human impact and disturbance. Many species are particularly vulnerable during the breeding season, when eggs and chicks require food, warmth and protection. Several bird species are especially dependent on favorable years to successfully raise their young.
Examples include several birds of prey and owls that require healthy populations of small rodents, crossbills that need abundant cone years, and ptarmigan species that tend to have large broods in seasons with little precipitation and favorable temperatures.
Birds of prey
Several species of birds of prey nest in the protected area. The most common are golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, rough-legged buzzards, gyrfalcons, merlins, kestrels, northern hawk-owls and short-eared owls. The eagle-owl is also a species that can be found in the area. The breeding season is short and the weather conditions challenging, and under these circumstances, the birdlife is vulnerable to human disturbance. Consideration must be shown when visiting in the area, especially during the breeding season.
Golden eagles and rough-legged buzzards
The golden eagle is our largest bird of prey after the white-tailed eagle. It can have a wingspan of 180–234 cm and is often easy to spot in the sky, even when flying several hundred meters above you.
It is often confused with the rough-legged buzzard, which can also be found in Reinheimen.
The rough-legged buzzard is smaller and has a lighter plumage than the golden eagle. A characteristic dark patch can be seen on each wing joint when flying with its wings outstretched.
Birds in wetland areas
In the very important wetland habitats of the national park, vulnerable wetland birds such as the horned lark, purple sandpiper, ringed plover and long-tailed duck breed.
Ptarmigan, grouse and capercaillies
Large parts of the national park are good breeding areas for ptarmigan. The rock ptarmigan can be found in the mountainous areas of the national park, while the willow ptarmigan lives in the belts of birch forest at lower elevations. Further down in the farming valleys, there are populations of capercaillie and black grouse.
Birds in the cultural landscape
In the cultural landscape, a large part of the terrain is open, featuring natural pastures, marshlands and areas of small bushes. Characteristic species here are the common reed bunting, meadow pipit, yellow wagtail and European golden plover. In areas such as Finndalen valley, with wetlands, small ponds, marshes and willow scrub, there is a rich and interesting birdlife, including Eurasian teals, tufted ducks, redshanks and red-necked phalaropes.
Wildlife
Reinheimen National Park is a mountainous area with a distinctive and diverse flora and fauna. The wild reindeer is a key species that utilizes the vegetation cover and is preyed upon by wolverines and golden eagles, which are also scavengers. Together with Arctic foxes, small rodents and birds, they play an important role in keeping the ecosystem in balance.
Wolverines
Wolverines are one of the four large predators in Norway, and are known to breed in Reinheimen and its associated protected landscapes. Its color and sturdy build may make it resemble a small bear, but it belongs to the Mustelid family.
It is agile and can move easily across steep valley slopes and through narrow openings in scree. Wolverines can reach about one meter in length from their snout to base of their tail, with males weighing up to 18 kg and females around 10 kg. They are very sturdily built, are strong for their size, and have a very powerful bite which enables them to eat frozen meat and crush bones from large animals so they can get to the bone marrow. The wolverine can carry prey several times larger than itself, and they often store their prey for the winter in areas of scree. Wolverines are part of the intact mountain ecosystem and will often prey on weak individuals from the reindeer population. They also cause problems for local sheep farmers by preying on grazing livestock.
Arctic fox
Despite being protected for more than 85 years, the Arctic fox population in Norway has until recently been in decline. Subpopulations have died out, and large alpine areas have long been without breeding Arctic foxes.
In 2004, a successful breeding program was initiated that released Arctic fox cubs into the wild, and since 2016, breeding pairs have been observed in Reinheimen.
The Arctic fox is a small predator, approximately half the size of the red fox. It is small and compact, with thick fur, short legs and small, rounded ears. Arctic foxes rarely weigh more than 3-4 kilos. There are two different color variants of Arctic fox – one white and one blue. The white fox is completely white in winter. In the summer, it changes to brown, with yellowish-white areas on the underside of its body. The blue fox is completely brown in the summer and dark, steel-blue in the winter. The coloration is hereditary, and there can be both blue and white foxes in the same litter.
Arctic foxes are specially adapted to the Arctic climate and cold conditions, and this is clearly reflected in its body shape. In extreme environments like this, having short legs and a compact body is an advantage. This minimizes the body’s surface area relative to its weight and volume. As a result, it is able to limit its heat loss. The fur of the Arctic fox provides the best insulation of any mammal.
Since the Swedish-Norwegian population is at the edge of the Arctic fox’s habitat range, the Arctic fox here is more vulnerable to climate and environmental changes than foxes living within the species’ main habitat range in the tundra and the Arctic.
Red foxes are larger and not as adapted to extreme winter environments as the Arctic fox. However, both a warmer climate and changes in human activity and development in the high mountains have given the red fox access to more stable food resources in the Arctic fox’s habitat. As a result, the Arctic fox has been pushed into more marginal mountain areas, while the red fox has taken over the productive, lower-lying mountainous regions.
It is prohibited by law to disturb, damage or destroy Arctic fox dens in Norway. If you are lucky enough to see an Arctic fox while on a trip, make sure to keep your distance.
Cultural monuments in the area
Reinheimen is rich in cultural monuments from the ancient practice of wild reindeer hunting and trapping. Visitors can see pitfall traps, mass trapping systems, hunting hides and the remnants of ancient shelters used by the local hunters.
Cultural monuments such as old homesteads and pitfall traps are protected sites, so do not move stones from old walls.
Cultural landscape
The people in the villages around Reinheimen are closely connected to the mountains. Agricultural practices involving grazing livestock and summer mountain farms promote biodiversity, particularly species-rich meadows. The cultural landscapes associated with the different farming areas are also important for understanding the historical landscape of both regular farming and summer mountain farming in earlier times. Changes in agriculture have led to fewer summer mountain farms in active use, and old hay meadows have become a threatened habitat.
Although active summer mountain farming and milk production have been greatly reduced, the grazing resources found in the mountains are still important for sheep and cattle. Currently, around 20,000 livestock are released to graze during the summer in the protected landscapes and in the national park. For that reason, please show consideration if you encounter grazing livestock in the area.
Landscape and geology
The landscape in Reinheimen is full of contrasts. In the west, visitors will find a dramatic landscape with rugged peaks and ridges, valleys, scree slopes and fast-flowing rivers. If you walk along Bruraskaret towards Romsdalen valley, there is a sheer drop of around 1000 meters down the face of Trollveggen. Between 900 and 1900 million years ago, the first parts of Reinheimen were formed. Sedimentary and igneous rocks were folded and transformed into gneisses. Later on in this period, granites intruded into the gneisses. Collectively, these metamorphic rocks form the Precambrian basement rocks..
To the east, the terrain becomes gentler with undulating mountain plateaus. The valleys are wider and the rivers are much calmer. The differences in terrain are due to varying bedrock, climate and land uplift in the different parts of Reinheimen. Most of the area is dominated by light-colored and nutrient-poor gneisses.
To the east, one finds younger, nutrient-rich rocks such as phyllite and mica schist. In the west, the land has risen more since the Ice Age. This, together with more precipitation, has caused the rivers to have steeper gradients and more power to cut into the terrain. In Romsdalen Protected Landscape, the terrain is characterized by scree slopes, and large boulders lie at the bottom of the valley, reminding us of enormous natural forces in the form of landslides and rockfalls. The unstable rock formation Mannen has been monitored for many years. In the autumn of 2019, Veslemannen, a part of the rock formation, collapsed and fell down into Romsdalen valley.
Watercourses
Reinheimen is the source of several important watercourses. The Istra, Rauma, Lora, Finna/Skjerva, Valldøla and Tora/Føysa rivers all originate from this mountainous area. They constitute a unique contribution to Norway’s freshwater ecosystems.
Management
The Reinheimen National Park Board has its own website.
