Trollpikken

Have you, like many people in the world, been bitten by troll fever after watching the film "Troll" on Netflix? How about experiencing troll formations in lunar landscapes? At Magma UNESCO Global Geopark, they offer troll body parts, at least one of them. Join a hike in a lunar landscape!

Follow the county road FV42 from Egersund railway station in the direction of Krossmoen. After about two minutes, turn right onto Sletteidveien. There is a sign signposted Trollpikken. Drive for about four minutes until you reach the car park marked Trollpikken. Open the directions here.

It is also possible to walk on the marked path to Trollpikken from Egersund town centre. Walk up to Vannbassengan and then over Veshovda and Mjølhusåsen (Opplev Dalane path).

From the car park on road FV62, follow the road Kjervallveien up the Kjervallbakken hill for 900 metres. On the way up the hill, you can see several large boulders. At the signpost, turn right onto the Opplev Dalane trail that comes from Ørsdalen valley and continues to Vannbassengan. Follow the path through a gate and over the stream, turn left just after the bridge. Follow the blue-labelled path up to Trollpikken. The path passes under the power lines and turns right around the pond just before you reach it. At the edge, you can see views of Egersund city. When you walk up from the pond, Trollpikken will come into view. You walk back the same way. Read more about Trollpikken here.

Trollpikken is a phenomenon created by the ice during the last ice age, which ended around 10,000 years ago. Today, Trollpikken is located in a beautiful cultural landscape where the rock in the area is anorthosite. Anorthosite is a deep rock that was formed from magma (molten rock) deep beneath a large mountain range around 1 billion years ago. Long before we knew that anorthosite is the same rock as on the surface of the moon, we called the area here a moonscape, because the nature here had sparse vegetation and was not very fertile. The area is characterised by the fact that it has been shaped by the ice, and you'll find several marks of the ice's progress. One of the more obvious signs is the moving boulders scattered around the landscape. They were transported here by the ice.

Trollpikken is also such a moving block, but it was only moved very briefly and never really got off the ground; it got stuck and fell out, and remained in its position when the ice melted back. Trollpikken is also made from the moonstone anorthosite.

Trollpikken became world-famous when it was vandalised and cut down one night in late June 2017. This act did not go down well with Trollpikken enthusiasts. Fundraising efforts initiated by local enthusiasts and local businesses meant that the stone was lifted and reinstalled just 13 days after the vandalism. It was no small job either - it weighed 12 tonnes!