Mannen is a small mountain located between two of Lofoten’s most beautiful beaches – Haukland and Uttakleiv. Despite being only a short and relatively easy hike, Mannen provides on views as well as the experience. What is more, the hike can be easily combined with a visit to the two beaches and be a part of a fantastic day out in Lofoten!
Continue reading to find out why you should include Mannen (as well as Haulkand and Utakleiv beach) in your Lofoten itinerary!
Mannen hike in Lofoten
- Height: Mannen 400 masl
- Total time: 2 – 3 hours
- Total distance: 4 km
- Parking: car park at Haukland Beach (free of charge, toilet in summer only). Directions.
- Level of difficulty: 2/5- easy hill walk, straight forward. Norwegian standards: GREEN – easy.
- Mannen weather: Mannen weather forecast (Haukland)
- Which map: Vestvågøy nordeca r/v
How to get to Mannen trail head
The trail to Mannen Lofoten starts at the Haukland Beach car park (directions). Despite being a large facility, the car park tends to be busy any time of the day; it’s totally heaving in summer late afternoon / evening, when the campers already arrived to stay overnight at the beach. Therefore, if you’re planning a visit to Haukland Beach or hike to Mannen, you should definitely consider earlier arrival, which would also give you an opportunity to spend more time in this beautiful corner of Lofoten islands!
Hike to Mannen in Lofoten
Leave your car at the large Haukland Beach car park, return to the main road and cross it. This is where the trail to Mannen starts.
You will see a narrow single track road running along the foot of the hill, follow this track for about 500 metres. Once you come to a small stream, turn left and walk up the hill, towards Mannen ridge. Although there are several paths forking from the main paved track, you can pick one of your choice as all the paths finally merge into a well defined trail. So you can leave the track at the stream or nearer the lake – whichever seems more appealing.
To conquer Mannen, first you have to hike to a ridge at Hestgreva. The zig-zaging path is well trodden and only its final section is a little bit steeper. Once at the ridge, turn left, and walk all the way along Hestgreva to the summit of Mannen.
The ridge walk is relatively easy; it’s a straight forward walk, however there are a couple of muddy and rocky sections, so I would refrain from hiking in white trainers!
During our visit to Mannen, the ridge traverse was awesome; we enjoyed sunshine and warm weather, very little wind. However, I can imagine that in less than perfect weather conditions, one can find a hike to Mannen windy and exposed to the elements.
Walkers who are not particularly found of exposed ridges will be relieved to know that hiking along the ridge to Mannen summit is not airy! The ridge is spacious enough; also there is an alternative trail following its full length a little bit further from the edge.
We felt that conquering Mannen was much more fun than we initially anticipated, and we especially enjoyed the ridge traverse.
Mannen summit didn’t look very spacious from the car park at Haukland Beach, however once we reached it, we realised that it offers enough space to fit a small crowd without disturbing each other!
A couple of words about the stunning Mannen summit view. Looking to the right we saw Uttakleiv Beach, however we felt it was a little too far to have a good overview; a much better viewpoint to Uttakleiv Beach is nearby Veggen mountain. We were astonished by the sights to the left thou, as we stood directly over Haukland Beach!
The beach looked truly ‘Caribbean’!
Fine white sand of Haukland Beach combined with emerald ocean was just mind-blowing! Hiking to Mannen was worth the effort for this reason alone! We were literally speechless!
It’s not difficult to guess that we were very reluctant to leave this awesome viewpoint, why should we hurry anyway? The day was nice, we shared it with only a couple of other walkers, what’s not too like about it?
But we finally did retrace our steps to the car park, grabbed some snacks and headed to Haukland Beach, which in the bright sun was nothing short of stunning!
How to hike Mannen from Uttakleiv Beach
If you’re based at Uttakleiv campsite, you may want to conquer Mannen from the eastern side, rather than Haukland Beach. To hie to Mannen summit from Uttakleiv, follow the main road towards the tunnel and take the track to the left, forking approximately 150 metres before the tunnel. Pass the house and continue along the zig-zaging track all the way to the small lake and turn right into the Mannen ridge. The summit is approximately 30-45 mins away.
Wild camping near Mannen and nearest campsite
We were happy to find out that there is a small, self-service campsite at Uttakleiv Beach (at the other side of Mannen!), as well as opportunity to wild camp at Haukland Beach!
Wild camping at Haukland Beach: camping is not forbidden at the large, free car park over Haukland Beach, in fact it’s a very good spot to spend a night in a camper. This car park is divided into two sections: there is a height limit barrier at the part nearer the beach, however the part nearer road has no barriers. The grassy area between car park and beach is flat and suitable for tents. One thing to note, however, is that the toilets are only open in summer (unfortunately, not maintained regularly) and the area is pretty much an open space with couple of houses nearby.
Camping at Uttakleiv Beach: there is a basic campsite at Uttakleiv Beach, checked twice daily by a warden. The ‘campsite’ is a flat-ish, grassy area at beach end, with some benches and tables provided, as well as a provisional sink & tap with cold water (open air), a two-toilet block and a chemical toilet disposal point for campers. It’s a self-service facility; to stay overnight at Uttakleiv Beach one has to pay at the ticket machine (low season) or to the warden (summer). Updated prices in 2019:
- camper 250 NOK / night
- tent 160 NOK per 24 hours
- tent + car 200 NOK per 24 hours
- tent + motorbike 200 NOK per 24 hours
- chemical toilet disposal point 75 NOK
Mannen Lofoten hike map
What else to see in Haukland and Uttakleiv area, near Leknes Lofoten?
Apart from hiking to Mannen, Haukland Beach area offers other fine walking experiences. See other recommended hikes near Haukland and Uttakleiv:
- hike along the coast from Haukland Beach to Uttakleiv Beach, with possible return thru Mannen ridge. Sounds awesome? It is awesome! Enjoy a fine full day walking adventure!
- conquer the steep slopes of Veggen mountain, the best viewpoint over Uttakleiv Beach!
- venture to the viewpoint over nearby Vik Beach! The trail starts from a small car park, only a couple of minutes drive from Haukland and is signposted to Holandsmelen. You don’t have to climb to the top of the hill, any point of its ridge makes for a great viewpoint!
LOOKING FOR OTHER AMAZING HIKES AND BEACH WALKS IN LOFOTEN?
If you’re looking for other hiking ideas on Lofoten archipelago, check out these amazing hill and beach walks! All include detailed route descriptions and maps:
KVALVIKA BEACH AND RYTEN – why not combine conquering Ryten with a visit to Lofoten’s gem beach – Kvalvika? A great, rewarding hike in Lofoten’s wild mountains.
ROREN AND YTTERSAND BEACH – short and easy hike to Roren, a viewpoint over calm waters of Flakstadoya and Yttersand Beach. Why not enjoy eagle-eye view first, and then descend to the picturesque sandy beach?
MUNKEBU HUT – explore wilderness of Moskenesoya island in the western part of Lofoten archipelago. The hut is located amongst high rocky mountains and makes a perfect day hike, or a great base to explore Munken and further summits.
TINDSTINDEN – a great adventure near Moskenes. This relatively short but strenuous hike provides a lot of excitement and stunning views over the Moskenesoya island.
What we loved about hiking to Mannen Lofoten
We were very positively surprised by Mannen. Although it’s only a short and straightforward hike, it offers a fine experience (we loved the ridge walk) and breath taking views throughout the whole route. We believe Mannen is the best viewpoint to see Haukland Beach from above, but we thought that for Uttakleiv Beach panorama, hiking Veggen was a better option. Would be return to Mannen? Yes, without a doubt!
*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
