Besseggen Ridge

West to east

The most popular direction to hike Besseggen is from Memurubu in the west to Gjendesheim in the east. Start by taking a morning boat across Gjende Lake from Gjendesheim to Memurubu. The boat ride lasts 20 minutes and in high season it is often fully booked. Book your ticket in advance if you know which day you are hiking.

Starting off from Memurubu the trail immediately rises steeply up the mountain. Hike slowly up the mountain and don’t use all your strength yet as there is still lots of hiking left after reaching the first plateau. As you hike past the treeline the trail veers to the east towards Besseggen. Continue on up and eventually you will get to a small plateau where you get the first views of the actual Besseggen Ridge.

The trail now levels off and it starts to descend a bit down to a pond on the left side of the trail. This is a good place to fill up your water bottle. From the pond, the trail ascends up until you can see Bjønbøltjønne Lake. Enjoy the great views of Gjende Lake before you head down to the lake. This is another good place to fill up your water bottle before heading further east.

From the lake the trail ascends again and you will eventually reach 1,560 meters above sea level before descending to Bessvatnet Lake at 1,374 meters. The last bit of the trail down to Bessvatnet Lake is a bit steep so make sure to follow the trail as you are descending down. Down by the lake you enter the ridge between the two lakes which is called “Bandet”. The ridge prevents Bessvatnet Lake from pouring into Gjende Lake 400 meters below.

This is about the halfway point of the hike and a good place to have lunch and enjoy the color differences between the two lakes. The ridge is fairly wide so most hikers will not experience any issues with the height yet.

From this ridge you start hiking and occasionally scrambling up the actual Besseggen Ridge. The ridge is fairly steep, rising 300 meters and is at times quite narrow. The first part of the ridge is fairly wide but as you move up the ridge gets narrower and steeper. If you are scared of heights this upper part is where you will potentially feel the most exposure. But note that the steepest part is not very long and once the ridge levels off you are done with the hardest part.

As you near the top of the ridge you will reach the point where most of the most famous pictures of the Besseggen Ridge are taken.

Continue up and you reach a small plateau where the trail descends a bit before heading up towards Veslfjellet. Veslfjellet is the big cairn and it reminds you that you have reached the highest point on the entire hike at 1,743 meters above sea level. The trail is now very flat and after about 1 kilometer you reach a trail junction. Follow that trail to the right down towards Gjendesheim. You will often see reindeers in this area so make sure to look for them as you cross the mountain.

Right after the trail junction, you reach an area with some very steep cliffs on your right-hand side. In fog, make sure to closely follow the marked trail in this area. 

Eventually, the trail starts to descend and the last 2.5 kilometers down to Gjendesheim are the steepest, especially at the top of the trail. There are some small sections here where you might feel some exposure and one of the sections has a wire that you can hold on to while hiking down.

The entire route is well marked so follow the signs and the red markers along the trail and you should have no problem finding your way.

Alternative route
If you choose to hike west to east and feel that the ridge up from Bessvatnet Lake is not for you, then you can instead hike along the northern side of Bessvatnet Lake back towards Gjendesheim. Do not walk along the southern shore of the lake, on the side of Besseggen Ridge.

After hiking along the lakeshore, take a right at the first trail junction and follow the signs towards Gjendesheim. You will find the alternative route in the map marked with a dashed line.

East to west

By choosing to start from Gjendesheim, you’re completely independent of the morning boat ride but you need to make sure that you get to Memurubu before the last boat leaves for Gjendesheim. Alternatively, you can stay at Memurubu.

Going this way you will get much better views of the hike down the Besseggen Ridge. However, keep in mind that if you are scared of heights hiking in this direction will feel more exposed.