Furåsen, Fortun

Parking: Park at the local shop in Fortun, 5 km from Skjolden on highway 55 to Lom.

The road:
Take highway 55 from the car park by the shop.
After 500 m: Turn right and walk through the gate.
Stay on the tractor road all the way.

As you get to the first hairpin bend on the road, you will see some crosses on the old churchyard where the stave church of Fortun once stood. The stave church was sold and moved to Fantoft in Bergen in 1883. The new church was finished four years earlier in 1879.

In the 1950s three hydroelectric power stations were built in the area. The largest of them was Fortun kraftverk  (Fortun PowerStation) at Skagen. The electric power generated here, is sent to Årdal across the mountain where it is used to produce aluminum. The power line crosses our road at Vetleåsen on its way to Årdal. From Vetleåsen there is a path to the mountain farm of Fuglesteg  situated in the steep mountainside directly above Vetleåsen. Fuglesteg was abandoned in1968.

Having reached Furåsen, we can enjoy a good view of the Fortun valley all the way to Nøstedalseter, and in the other direction we see Skjolden, Eidsvatnet (Lake Eide) and Haugsbukta (bukt =bay), which is the very end of the Lusterfjord and the Sognefjord.

Furåsen means Pine Hill or Pine Ridge). Before 1700 the name was Preståsen (Parson Hill), and was owned by the church.

Furåsen was abandoned in the early 1990s, although part of the land is still farmed. On the farm is a mast with antennas for radio, TV and mobile phone.