Dovrefjell and the Musk Oxen

Dovrefjell Sunndalsfjella National Park, Home Of Europe'S Best Known Wild Musk Ox Herd And Wild Reindeer Below Snohetta · Dombas, Innlandet

Dovrefjell is the high, bare mountain plateau that the E6 and the Oslo-Trondheim railway cross between Dombas and Oppdal, and the heart of Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park. It is one of the few places in Europe where you can walk out and see wild musk oxen: animals from Greenland were released here in the 1930s and again after the war, and a herd often put at a few hundred now grazes the valleys around Kongsvoll and Hjerkinn. The same plateau holds wild reindeer, arctic plants found almost nowhere else in southern Norway, and Snohetta, at about 2,286 m the highest peak outside Jotunheimen. At Hjerkinn a short walk leads to the Snohetta viewpoint, a timber-and-steel pavilion by the architects who took the mountain's name, looking across the reindeer range to the peak. People come for guided musk ox walks in summer, for the light and space, and as a break on the drive north. The honest caveat: sightings are never guaranteed, the animals are dangerous if approached, and winter up here is harsh and dark.

Snohetta viewpoint at Hjerkinn, on the E6 between Dombas and Oppdal, Dovre municipality, Dombas, Innlandet, Norway

Open land, open all year and free to walk under the right to roam. Guided musk ox safaris run roughly mid June to mid September, usually one departure a day of about 4-6 hours from Oppdal, Kongsvoll, Hjerkinn or Dombas - book a few days ahead in July. The Snohetta viewpoint is reached on foot from a car park near Hjerkinn, roughly 1.5 km each way; the approach road is normally usable in the snow-free season only - confirm. By train, the Dovre Line stops at Dombas, Hjerkinn and (on request, confirm) Kongsvoll; by car, the E6 crosses the plateau year-round, with convoy driving or closures in storms.

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