Hesten Hike
Hesten is a popular hiking trail on Senja Island, and one of the most beautiful hikes in Norway. I mean comeon look at this mountain. Hesten has got to be one of the most unique hikes we have ever done. It is a beautiful fjord hike where you will get unbelievable views of Mount Segla. Much like the iconic Segla mountain, Hesten has a sharp drop into the fjord below, but doesn’t reach quite as tall. Apart from Segla, Hesten has views of Mefjorden to the west, and Inste Kongen Mountain and Korkedalen Valley to the north. To see more about the Lofotens and surrounding area of Norway check out our guide here.
Hiking Stats
- Distance: 1.8km one way, 3.6km return
- Altitude gain: 520 meter ascent
- Duration: 2-3 hours
- Directions to the Hike
The Hesten hike is in the village of Fjordgård on the island of Senja in Northern Norway. This island sits in between the popular Lofoten Islands and Tromso. We travelled to Senja via a ferry after we arrived on our flight to Tromso. This was the best way for us to travel, but you can also take a longer way and drive over the bridge from Finnsnes. If you are planning on taking the ferry it is worth checking the schedule in shoulder season. If you are in the high season June – Sept there are more frequent sailings. We visited in September and ended up catching the very last sailing of the year. You can see all the Northern Norway ferry schedules on there official site here. Unlike the lofoten’s it is pretty hard to get around the island of Senja without a car. We took a look at doing it all by bus and it seemed impossible. Saying that we highly recommend renting a car or camper for this region. This site is great for comparing booking and getting good rates!
Hesten & Segla Hiking Directions
The Hesten mountain trail parking lot starts in the same place as the trail to hike Segla. After walking up 100 meters or so, you will have to choose whether you want to hike Hesten or Segla. We chose to hike Hesten, as it allows you to get very dramatic views of Segla. However, if you climb on the Segla trail, you will have the option of hiking all the way to the top of the Segla peak. The view on Segla is amazing too, so it is a hard choice. Do both if you can! We only had time for one so after some hard deliberation Hesten it was.
Note: it is pay parking everywhere in the town, including the parking lot for the hike. We did not see the sign as a large camper van was in front of it, so I think we will most definitely get a ticket in the mail. As this was our first stop in Norway, we have realized later that you have to pay for parking at almost every hike, even if it is in the middle of nowhere! Make sure to download the Easy Park App so that you can pay online and add time if needed. Don’t worry about the extra trailhead for segla just drive and park at the top of the hill by the pin below. All the trails in the region split off from this point
When to Hike
We hiked at the beginning of September and were very lucky with the weather. We also did not see too many people! However, I have heard that the trail gets really busy in summer, but you will get the best chance of nice weather if you come between June and August. Roll those dice as you wish. We personally love having places to ourself so we were willing to take the gamble on low season weather. We found most of our hikes in arctic Norway were cloudy first thing in the morning. For us the best views were around 9-10 am as the sun burned some of the fog off. This can be totally season dependent so stay on top of the weather, it changes quickly this far from the equator.
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