Svartavatnet - Husnes, from Herøysund

Location
Herøysundet

Map
Folgefonna National Park

Start and stopping point
Start: By the community hall in Bringedalsbygda.
Stopping Point: By the forest road in Onarheimslia, 150 meters north of the rest area by the highway at Husnes.

Parking
Leave the highway at north or south and follow the smaller road to the parking lot by the community hall in Bringedalsbygda.

Signs and markings
Information Board at the starting point.
Signs and T Markings

Grading
Red
Moderate hike, three boots according to the DNT system.

Difference in altitude
50 - 870 m

Estimated time
6 hours

Recommended advice
Remember to bring your camera, there are many nice snapshot opportunities. Lake Svartavatnet is drinking water for Halsnøy, Valen, Sunde and Husnes, so swimming is prohibited. Use your imagination to plan hikes via Storhaug, Nipen and Manen, see under “Overview”.

Overview
Follow the main forest road from the community hall for 500 meters up the hill until the road flattens by the forest road intersection. Turn right on the overgrown forest road and follow this to the end. From here, follow the path through the old forest until it forks at the treeline, 500m AMSL. From the fork, you may take a short side trip to Storhaug at 586m AMSL. From there, there is a marked route further to Nipen and Manen. Be aware of steep rock faces.
The route to Lake Svartavatnet continues through mountain terrain with rocks and rock faces until a new fork at 870m AMSL. From here, you may go to Manen at 1013m AMSL and take a round trip back to Storhaug. The route to Lake Svartavatnet at 770m AMSL continues down to the right. From Lake Svartavatnet, along the river in a beautiful open valley, to the Sundstølen mountain farm with old farm ruins and an idyllic lake. Further down towards Bremstølen mountain farm, 460m AMSL, which is a popular destination for family hikes. The path through the forest in Onarheimslia turns into a forest road down toward the highway.