Hands up all who love a good viewpoint! Hooray for Røren viewpoint!

Roren is beautifully located at the the furthest corner of Moskenesoya Lofoten. We were quite happy to have found this short hike, we actually managed to complete it in the evening! It was an easy, couple of hours hike with fantastic views to nearby Yttersand Beach, which we explored after descending from this little viewpoint. Definitely it’s one of the best short hikes in Lofoten, at the very edge of Lofotodden National Park

At 295 masl, Røren isn’t really a mountain itself, it’s only a lower summit of Ytresandheia (324 masl) and makes a good leg stretcher, an easy walk over grassy slopes.

Røren viewpoint and Yttersand Beach hike fact sheet

• Height: Røren 294 masl
• Total time: 2.5 hours
• Total distance: 2 km
• Parking: small car park past village Yttersand (click here for directions)
• Roren weather information: Roren and Yttresand weather forecast
• Level of difficulty: 2/5 – easy hillwalk, good path. Norwegian standards: GREEN -easy
• Which map: Vest-Lofoten 1:50 000 (click here to buy)

How to get to Roren

This short hike to Roren starts at the visitors car park in Yttersand. To get to Yttersand from main Lofoten road number E10 one has to drive over 2 small bridges, which feels like crossing to some small secret islands, but in fact Yttersand is the northernmost village on Lofoten’s largest island, Moskenesoya. It’s the last village along road number Fv806. There is a very small car park just past the village, it only fits a couple of cars and fills up quickly. Bad news is that there aren’t any other car parks nor overflow parking bays along the road in the village, and in case of small car park being full, one has to turn back and leave car as far as Fredvang Rest Stop located just at the second bridge, roughly 2.5 km away.

We were lucky to find space at the small car park, so after a quick change we were ready to hit the trail to Roren viewpoint. Although the trail is not marked, it’s very clear where to go and just as easy to follow, as literally there aren’t any other paths to take.

Path to Roren starts at a small wooden gate at the head of car park and is a bit muddy at first, but nothing major. This is not something that would discourage us anyway! Having previously hiked to Munkebu hut, the undisputed winner in competition for wettest boots hike, we felt that no mud nor bog can put us off (read all about it here).

Although it was late August, one would find it tricky to describe season as ‘summer’. We were dressed in hats and gloves, not to mention good windproof jackets and trousers – they’re ‘a must’ in Lofoten! Maybe our good luck ended with finding a parking spot; we hoped for a bit of sunshine, even a brief moment of bliss, but nope, didn’t have any…

Very quickly we reached Røren ridge, a flattish and featureless plateau, and could already see ‘summit’ of Roren in front of us, a small con -shaped top.

‘What a nice, quick hike!’ we thought as we followed faint path ahead. ‘Great! I can’t wait to explore the beach next!’ I said to Bea and briskly walked towards a large rock at the very edge of the ridge, to check out wild mushrooms I spotted. ‘They look very familiar, much like chanterelle, but I’m not sure… better not risk it. I better leave them growing!’. And good I did. Days later when I remembered these mushrooms I checked online and yep, they might have harmed us. Phew! By the way, beware of fake chanterelles in Lofoten, they’re very similar looking to the ‘real deal’ and can be found literally everywhere!

In no time we were already on top of Roren, having a snack and a sip of hot tea. The most appreciated cup of tea!

We both really liked this short hike, it didn’t take much effort, but was very enjoyable. We especially liked view over to villages Ramberg and Fredvang, also to Sandoya – little island just below Roren. Even thou Sandoya is only a small, flat piece of land, it looked great with its tiny sandy beach on the sea of turquoise.

We quickly hiked down to the village and directed our steps to Yttersand Beach. I have to admit I was wrong with our good luck being all used for finding a parking space! There, looking at the beach we noticed the tide was outgoing!

Oh my, that was lucky!

Yttersand is quite a small beach, at high tide we wouldn’t have a lot of space to walk on, nor would it be as attractive. However, at low tide the beach widened greatly, presenting fine, white sand. We stopped at water edge and looked at the colours around us; dark, saturated navy blue sky above, completely in contrast to light, turquoise colour of the sea, white sands and lively green dunes at our back. Amazing sight!

Then we realised we have actually been blessed with a little bit of sunshine after all! This realisation came only a couple of minutes before the skies turned moody gray again and we escaped a heavy shower by a hair!

My thoughts are returning to Yttersand Beach now and make me feel very happy. Happy to have been able to explore Lofoten, to have been able to enjoy quiet beach walks in serene scenery…

Finding a good spot to stay overnight off grid is generally difficult in Lofoten. In most suitable spots camping is forbidden. By Norwegian law, wild camping is only allowed 150 metres from nearest dwellings, however on many occasions we found notice boards put by the locals that they do not wish campers to stay overnight on their land.

The best low-level wild camping spots in the area would be Fredvang Rest Stop (for a camper vans) and little hills near the bridges, however they’re both ‘No Camping’ zones, loud and clear. If one travels in a camper and wants to wait out bad weather, Fredvang Rest Stop is an ideal spot to have a break, or spend the day even (free toilet available), however it would only be respectful to move somewhere else for the night. We camped along main road E10 for two nights as there are parking bays large enough to fit 2 cars, nearby junction with Fv 808 direction to Moskenes.

For tent enthusiasts I can recommend spending the night on Roren ridge as it’s a nice, flattish plateau. Please note that camping on the beach is not allowed, at the far end of beach is a small campsite. It is however hard to determine which grounds already belong to campsite, and the campsite management is known to be very protective of the their land as well as the dunes.

Campsite nearest Roren and Yttersand Beach is ‘Fredvang Strand’. This small campsite is located at the far end of Yttersand Beach, however we can’t comment on its prices nor facilities. It’s hard to believe, but there aren’t many campsites in Lofoten, therefore one can find themselves having to stop over as far as Moskenes Campsite.

 it’s a great idea for a short walk as it’s easily hiked within couple of hours. Roren is easy to climb and makes for a very good viewpoint over small islands and further towards rocky mountains of Flakstadoya. Yttersand Beach is a perfect place to relax and enjoy nature

*Level of difficulty explained:  1– easy walk, mostly flat   2-easy hillwalk, good path   3-moderate, possible some steep sections   4-long hillwalk, possibly some scrambling involved, possibly pathless   5-difficult, possibly pathless, long, requires technical skills

NORWEGIAN DIFFICULTY LEVEL EXPLAINED: GREEN – easy , BLUE -moderate, RED – demanding, BLACK -expert

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