Husfjellet is one of the best viewpoints on Senja island in Northern Norway. It’s also a fantastic couple of hours hike, well rewarded with panoramic view to nearby fjords – Ersfjorden and Bergsfjorden. The latter is especially spectacular sight, as it’s dotted with dozens of small islands. Husfjellet doesn’t disappoint with mountain views either, from its top you can admire many of Senja’s amazing peaks.
Visit to Husfjell was our last hike on Senja island. Having known it’s one of locals’ favourites, we ensured to have plenty of time to enjoy it. Indeed, the hike was brilliant, and views so fantastic that we stayed longer at the summit area, reading books and chatting to fellow walkers. We only returned to the village after sunset.
Continue reading to find out why we fell in love with Husfjellet Senja!
HIKING HUSFJELLET SENJA
- Height: Husfjellet 632 masl
- Total time: 4 hours
- Total distance: 8 km
- Parking: car park in Skaland, at Berg kirke (directions)
- Level of difficulty: 3/5 -moderate hill walk, some sections of trail are eroded and wet. Norwegian standards: BLUE – moderate.
- Husfjellet weather: Husfjellet weather forecast
How to get to Husfjellet trailhead
Hiking trail to Husfjellet begins at the small church in Berg, just over Skaland village (directions).
Keep in mind, thou, that the hike is very popular with visitors as well as locals, therefore the church’s car park may be busy. If that’s the case, return to the main village to find more parking spaces. There are plenty of spaces available at (and behind) Joker shop in Skaland, only 200 metres from trailhead.
Along the trail to Husfjellet Senja
Right behind the church in Berg is a small picnic area. This is where the trail to Husfjellet starts. First twenty metres it’s a narrow path running thru low woodland, but very soon the path merges with a wide forest track. The track climbs gently and is a pleasant walk thru forest. Look out for wild mushrooms, there’re plentiful along the way!
Continue along the forest track until you pass two open shelters, then at the T-junction turn left and walk along the main track for another 80 metres. You’ll come to a small cairn (pile of stone) and a signpost ‘Husfjellet & Sommerdalen’, directing you to a rugged path in low birch woodland. Take the path and follow it until the very summit of Husfjellet.
Although trail to Husfjell is not marked (apart from the signpost mentioned above), it’s very well defined and easy to follow. Once you’re over the treeline, views become breath taking. You’ll be hiking along Sommerdalen, a wide green meadow, and to your left is a spectacular stretch of ocean, Bergsfjorden. It’s one of the few fjords dotted with small islands.
As you hike higher path is more rugged and at one point it turns into a muddy track, but don’t worry; there are several wooden footways built to ensure smooth walk and dry feet! Once past the wettest section, you’ll already be facing the last ascent to Husfjellet Senja summit.
I’m sure that the incredible panoramic views from summit of Husfjellet will take your breath away! Small islands in Bergsfjorden, spiky mountains of central Senja, the ocean – all will make your heart sing!
Watching sunset from Husfjellet on Senja
Needless to say, we both enjoyed the hike and loved the views even more! It won’t come as a surprise then, that we wanted to stay there forever, feeling gentle breeze on our faces and just watch the sun setting over the ocean. We took all the time in the world! Also, at the summit we met Hedda, our host from Botnham.
Meeting friendly locals of Senja
During our short stay at Hedda’s, we managed to share hiking ideas and experiences with her and the daughter. They were very keen and enthusiastic hikers, however it turned out that Bea and I have already conquered a couple of mountains she was only planning to climb at that time. But, in fact it was Hedda who encouraged us to hike Husfjellet!
When we set off to Berg, we texted Hedda saying that yep, as per her advise we were heading to Husfjell. She texted back that she’s indeed planning the very same hike in the afternoon!
We took our time at summit – enjoying sunset, reading books… suddenly we spotted two familiar figures on the horizon, just heading to the top. ‘Is that you on the summit just now?’ Bea texted, and very soon received a response ‘Yes!’. Couple of minutes later Hedda and her daughter joined our little picnic admiring the sunset.
How small is the hiking world of Senja, we thought! Hedda mentioned that couple of days before, while driving to her mum, she saw our camper parked at the road side, when we ventured to climb mighty Keipen and Grytetippen. We were still ‘high’ on Keipen hike and happily shared the hike details and experience. At that time we also have climbed Inste Kongen, the ‘black sheep’ of Senja’s mountains, with a rather bad reputation; Hedda wanted to know all about it!
Also, as we followed the trail, we met some locals returning from mushroom picking. Curious, we asked them about content of their baskets and they were happy to chat about locally available ‘gifts of nature’. It seemed that the favourite Norwegian wild mushrooms were chanterelles! In fact, we noticed it in other parts of Norway too; many people would pick chanterelles only! Of course, we’re not complaining about it! We know and love many other kinds of wild mushrooms, which were kindly left for us by locals; like varieties of boletus for example. I was particularly happy that locals didn’t seem to know my favourite, Leccinum versipelle! Oh boy, they were growing everywhere, and it only took 15-20 minutes to come back from the forest with a full bag of the orange-capped gems, wherever we stopped!
It was very refreshing to share the hiking experience with a local person, exchange the ideas and favourite places. Very often, while talking to locals we found out about most amazing places and walks, this knowledge is sometimes priceless.
Wild camping near Husfjellet Senja and nearest campsite
Unfortunately, there aren’t many campsites in northern and western Senja. The only ones are Fjordbotn Camping (website) located in Indergard and a site between Steinfjord and the tunnel (but it looked deserted and I’m not sure if it actually operates).
Wild camping is allowed and widely accepted in Norway. By law, everyone is allowed to stay overnight at any spot at least 150 metres from nearby buildings.
There are endless good camping spots along Husfjellet trail, especially higher up in Sommerdalem and nearer summit. Alternatively, a good wild overnight stay location is Ersfjordstranda (beach) – there are makeshift tent pitches prepared, live fire spots, a toilet as well as a reasonably sized car park suitable for camper vans and motorhomes. Just be careful when arriving at night, so you don’t end up like the guys on the photo above 🙂
Talking about the guys from photo above – while staying at Ersfjordstranda, at 2 am we were woken up by a little noise, similar to tyre screeching but not loud, so we thought nothing about it. As there was no other noise, we fell back asleep. Only in the morning we saw THAT! Imagine, they drove into a drainage ditch and never even screamed nor swore loud!
Jokes aside, I think that Ersfjord beach is the best place to stay wild over night. Another suitable spot is a small car park at the shores of Steinfjorden, however there are no facilities.
Husfjellet Senja hiking map
What we loved about Husfjell hike in Senja
Oh, that’s easy and it can be contained in one word – EVERYTHING! We loved the trail, so rich in spectacular views. We loved chatting to locals, discussing wild mushrooms, then meeting Hedda and exchanging mountain experiences. Sunset at Husfjellet was second to none. All these contributed to an amazing, relaxed day out hiking Husfjell. If we’re ever on Senja again, definitely we’re hiking this trail again, maybe even extending it to further ridges and summits.
LOOKING FOR OTHER AMAZING HIKES ON SENJA?
If you’re looking for other hiking ideas on Senja island, check out these amazing walks! All include detailed route descriptions and hiking maps:
BARDEN – located near Fjordgard, is locals’ favourite hike. The trail follows a mountain ridge directly over two beautiful fjords.
KEIPEN AND GRYTETIPPEN – a challenging hike to two majestic, rocky peaks. The views to Senja’s mountain ridges and blue waters of Ornfjorden will make you speechless. Well worth the effort!
SEGLA AND HESTEN – enjoy Senja’s most iconic views and climb Fjordgard’s gems! Climb steep slopes of Segla for incredible view to Mefjorden and surrounding hills, or conquer Hesten to admire Segla’s sheer, vertical rock cliffs… or why not go for an ultimate experience and climb them both?!
*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
