Skåldalsfjellet, 719m
Herlandsfjellet, 694m
Repparåsen, 609m (Tunesfjellet)
Arnanipa, 458m (Ådnanipa)

Mountain area : Near Gullfjellet, Bergen
Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Bergen
Maps : 1215-IV Samnanger (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary Factor: Skåldalsfjellet: 296m
Primary Factor: Herlandsfjellet: 99m
Primary Factor: Repparåsen: 96m
Primary Factor: Arnanipa: 55m
Hiked : Several times since Apr 1999
See also : Gullfjellstoppen
See also : Austrerinden
See also : Haugavarden
Skaaldalsfjellet seen from Unneland road

Skåldalsfjellet seen from Unneland road

Introduction

The Skåldalsfjellet mountain massif (this name of the massif is only used on this web-site) is located above Indre Arna, and is a close neighbour of Gullfjellet, holding the highest point in Bergen kommune - Gullfjellstoppen.

The Skåldalsfjellet massif is enclosed by the valley between Unneland and Lake Osavatn, the Songstaddalen valley, and highways RV580 and E16. This massif contains four tops - Skåldalsfjellet, Herlandsfjellet, Repparåsen (also known as Tunesfjellet) and Arnanipa (also known as Ådnanipa) In addition, Skåldalsnipa is a popular viewpoint, located on the west side of Skåldalsfjellet.

Skaaldalsfjellet seen from Gullfjellstoppen (433KB)

Skåldalsfjellet seen from Gullfjellstoppen (No Javascript)

Skåldalsfjellet is best viewed from highway RV580, where the mountain presents itself as a tremendously large hump. As this web-site only recognizes mountains with a primary factor of 100m or more, only Skåldalsfjellet is ranked as an independent mountain on this massif. However, both Herlandsfjellet and Repparåsen come close (both mountains have a primary factor > 90m) Arnanipa more or less marks the northern end of this massif, but is perhaps the most popular top for hikers, with the close proximity to Indre Arna.

Although there are numerous trails and trailheads leading up to these mountains, Indre Arna and Lake Osavatnet are the two popular starting points. Collecting all mountains in one walk, is by all means not an impossible task. However, if you are looking for shorter walks, then use Lake Osavatnet as trailhead for Herlandsfjellet and Skåldalsfjellet, and Indre Arna as trailhead for Arnanipa and Repparåsen.

Reppadalen valley cuts in between Skåldalsfjellet and Repparåsen. Parts of this valley belong to Reppadalen Naturreservat (nature preserve). The various types of bog (!) are used for education and research.

The mountain names originate from farms and places near or below the mountains. Skåldal is located soutwest of Skåldalsfjellet, Herland is located north of Herlandsfjellet, Arna (the town) is located west of Arnanipa and Repparåsen is related to Reppadalen valley, which in turn (apparently) is named after the old "Reppen" farm in this valley.

Skaaldalsfjellet seen from Livarden (208KB)

Skåldalsfjellet seen from Livarden (No Javascript)

Primary Factor

Skåldalsfjellet (M711: 719m, Ø.K: 715 highest contour) has a primary factor of 296m factor towards the higher Gullfjellstoppen (987m). The saddle is found in Songstaddalen valley. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 425m contours on the high route, but not 420m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 423m.

The M711 map height used to be 718m, and this is the height used on some pictures.

Herlandsfjellet (M711: -, Ø.K: highest contour is 695m ~697m) has a primary factor of 99m towards the higher Skåldalsfjellet (719m) The saddle is found between the two tops in Minneskardet (name from ØK) Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 600m contours on the high route, but not 595m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 598m. Note that the high point is not the same as the 694m trig. point on the M711 map. The highest contour on Ø.K. is 695m which gives an interpolated height of 697m.

Repparåsen (M711: 609m, Ø.K: highest contour is 605m) has a primary factor of 96m towards the higher Skåldalsfjellet (719m) Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 515m contours on the high route, but not 510m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 513m. Note that our GPS reading in this saddle was 515-516m, which means that the actual primary factor is closer to 93m. Our GPS reading from Repparåsen summit correlated with the M711 map height.

Arnanipa (M711: -, Ø.K: 458m) has a primary factor of 55m towards the higher Repparåsen (609m) The saddle is found between the two tops. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 405m contours on the high route, but not 400m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 403m. Note that point 456m on the M711 map, is the trig. point (455,57m on Ø.K), and this is not the high point. The 458m high point is found a few meters further east.

Skaaldalsfjellet seen from Haugavarden (208KB)

Skåldalsfjellet seen from Haugavarden (No Javascript)

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

Route 1: Lake Osavatnet - Herlandsfjellet - Skåldalsfjellet (all seasons)

Difficulty : Class 1
Comments : Family hike
Distance : Approx. 3,5Km to Skåldalsfj.
Time : Approx. 1 - 1,5 hours to summit
Starting Elev.: Approx. 300m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 600m

Map of the area
Map of the area
(No Javascript)
Detailed map
Detailed map
(No Javascript)

Access

From Bergen, locate highway 580 between Nesttun and Indre Arna. There are two exits two "Bjørndalen/Unneland" along this road. Both roads lead to the Unneland junction, where you follow the road until it ends at Lake Osavatnet. There is plenty of parking available. On busy week-ends (all seasons), there may be a parking fee (NOK 20,-)

The trail

Go to the red cabin just before the parking area. Locate a trail that runs on the right hand side of the cabin. Follow this trail upwards and note that it turns left by the first pole. Follow the trail up the ridge. After a while, you see the trail forks on the ridge. Go left. You're still on the ridge. It gets gradually harder to follow the trail higher up, but it doesn't matter. It's just grass up there.

It is unclear to me if there actually is a trail from Herlandsfjellet to Skåldalsfjellet, but the direction is obvious. Head west and walk off-trail while the terrain descends into the saddle between the two mountains. From the saddle, ascend until you are on the ridge that leads to Skåldalsfjellet. You will run into a trail on this ridge. Neither Herlandsfjellet nor Skåldalsfjellet has a summit cairn. Instead, a modest collection of rocks can be found on - or near the high points. If you want to visit Skåldalsnipa, head towards point 685m before turning SW to point 605m.

Variations:

1.1: Return your ascent route, or go off-trail directly from Skåldalsfjellet and down to the farms in Minnedalen valley.

1.2: Another alternative is to hike via Skåldalsnipa and follow a trail to the farms at Skåldal. Once back on the road, you have a couple of kilometres to walk up to Lake Osavatnet.

Route 2: Indre Arna - Arnanipa - Repparåsen - Skåldalsfjellet - Reppadalen (all seasons)

Difficulty : Class 1
Comments : Easy terrain
Distance : Approx. 12Km round-trip
Time : Approx. 4 hours round-trip
Starting Elev.: Approx. 80m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 800m

Map of the area
Map of the area
(No Javascript)
Detailed map
Detailed map
(No Javascript)

Access

From Bergen (Nesttun), follow highway 580 towards Oslo. At the Indre Arna exit (distance will come later), turn right onto "Arnatveitveien". Follow this road for approx. 1,5Km and turn right onto "Stølsvegen". Follow this road for approx. 1,2Km and turn right onto a parking area. A green trailsign can be seen 50m before the parking. The parking is 100m after the "Ådnamark Borettslag" sign.

The trail

Turn left before the small soccer field and head upwards along the forest road. Follow the forest road until you cross a stream. You may stick with the forest road or follow a forest path up along the stream and rejoin the forest road higher up. If you take the shortcut through the forest, the path runs on the right hand side of the stream (looking upwards) The forest trail is a significant shortcut!

Back on the forest road, follow it upwards. You will pass the "Reppadalen" trailsign before you reach the "Ådnanipa" trailsign. Turn left onto a trail at this sign. Follow the trail up the Arnanipa southeast ridge and to the summit. You will pass the "Åsheimsvarden" sign before you reach the summit, marked by "Ådnanipa" sign.

Continue towards Tunesfjellet and Repparåsen. You should find a trail that descends to the small valley between Arnanipa and Tunesfjellet, then follow the Repparåsen northwest ridge. The summit plateau has two humps. The easternmost hump is the higher, approx. 4-5m higher than the westernmost hump.

Continue towards Skåldalsfjellet. Head down Repparåsen's southeast ridge and down to the saddle between Repparåsen and Skåldalsfjellet. You get a good view towards Reppadalen valley from here. Continue up Skåldalsfjellet north ridge to the (small) summit cairn.

From Skåldalsfjellet, head northwest towards the valley east of Garnesrinden, and follow this valley down to Reppadalen. There may not be paths down this valley, but you should have no problem walking off-trail in this terrain. An alternative may be to follow the Garnesrinden ridge. From distance, there seemed to be a route down this ridge.

In Reppadalen, cross the bridge near the huts. There is a trail junction just after the bridge. Go left. You will soon run into another trail junction. Go right. You will soon reach the forest road that you can follow all the way back to the parking.

View from Vidden

View from Vidden (No Javascript)

Route 3: Indre Arna - Arnanipa from Åsheim (all seasons)

Difficulty : Class 1
Comments : Family hike
Distance : Approx. 2,5Km to Arnanipa
Time : Approx. 1 hour to the top
Starting Elev.: Approx. 160m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 300m

Map of the area
Map of the area
(No Javascript)
Detailed map
Detailed map
(No Javascript)

Access

A more precise description will follow later, but for now, this will have to do;

From Bergen (Nesttun), follow highway 580 towards Oslo. At the Indre Arna exit (distance will come later), turn right onto "Arnatveitveien". Follow this road until you meet"Garnesveien" on the northern side of Indre Arna. Locate a Hydro Texaco gas station along Garnesveien (not the one down by the fjord). There is also a fire station next to the gas station.

Turn onto the Seimsvegen road and follow this road upwards. Halfway up you arrive Øvre Seimsmark where you can park. If you don't feel like hiking on paved roads, you can follow Åsheimvegen road. all the way to the trailhead, 1,3Km from where you left Garnesveien road. At 1,3Km, notice a rack of mailboxes and a "Turveg" sign. There is an alley that takes you to the main trailhead (100m). However, there are few places to park up there, so consider the Øvre Seimsmark parking.

The trail

At the trailhead you will see two trails. One descends down on the other (east) side, while the Arnanipa trail goes to the right.

The trail runs up the ridge in southeast direction. The trail is well used and very visible. You will pass Høgåsen (284m) before you descend down into Tjovedalen valley. The trail still maintains the southeast direction until you are on the east side of Arnanipa. This is where you climb above the timberline. The trail takes you straight west up to the summit

Trip reports and Pictures

Herlandsfjellet, Jun 17 2005
Repparåsen and Skåldalsfjellet, Jan 9 2005
Arnanipa from Indre Arna, Sep 30 2004
Herlandsfjellet from Osavatn, Aug 23 2004
Skåldalsnipa from highway RV580, Feb 28 2003
Herlandsfjellet and Skåldalsfjellet from Osavatn, Oct 06 2002

Skaaldalsfjellet seen on the way to Sletteggi

Skåldalsfjellet seen on the way to Sletteggi (No Javascript)

Other pictures

1. Above Arna (490KB)

No Javascript:

1


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