Kvennan Fly Fishing is located in the north part of the valley "Østerdalen" between the two small towns Tynset and Tolga, in the county Hedmark. The Swedish border is not far, only 75 km. The landscape in this part of Norway can be described as the mountain area of the county Hedmark and some say it is Scandinavia’s southernmost wilderness.
The county's extensive forests supply much of Norway's timber; logs were previously floated down Glomma to the coast but are now transported by truck and train.
In the mountain area at the west side of Glomma a National Park called Forollhogna is situated.
In the east you can find National Park Femundsmarka.
The area around Tynset and Tolga is a nice one for beautiful hiking trips. You can reach the mountains quite easily by car. Then you have a good starting point for endless rambling through these old mountains.
Climate
Our part of river Glomma is situated at an altitude of 500 meter, the mountains in the area rise to ca 1200 meters. Because of the land climate the winters can be bitter cold, in winter time the temperature can fall to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Glomma freezes over every winter, in fact the farmers can drive their tractors over the massive ice floor.
In late April the snow starts to melt. First in the valley's where the temperature is a bit higher. This results in a first rise of water-level in the river. From half of May until half of June the snow in the mountains melts, causing spring flood in Glomma. In normal years this will last for two to three weeks. In the days with the highest water-levels the river will be very dirty and then it is not at all possible to fish the fly. As soon as the river starts to fall, the fly fishing can begin. In early season often there are strong winds from the North so it might be useful to use a bit heavier fly rod - bring a #6.
Then summer arrives. In June it can be beautiful warm weather, or it can be like a "green winter", you never know. End of this month all the leaves will be on the trees, and insect live in the river is fully active. July normally is a nice summer month. Due to the west winds most rain falls in the mountains in the West, our area is one of the driest in Norway. August seems to be the nicest summer month with often very fine weather.
September can be a mixed bag: very nice "Indian summer" days and cold, early winter days are possible. Snow in early October is no exception, and in November winter will be back.
Something special for these northern territories are the long summer days. From May 15th it will not really get dark in the night. At midsummer night you can read the paper outside in the middle of the night, and it will be like this until mid of July. In August there are still long evenings, mid of September it will be light until about 20.00 o'clock.
Places
Tolga
Tolga is a small village, located between Tynset in the south and Røros in the north. The number of citizens in Tolga is approximately 1755. To get here, you can simply take the road called RV3/RV30 or you can get here by train. Røros Airport is only 33 kilometers away.
Around 1660, "Røros Copperworks" was established, with a melting hut called "Tolgen". The melting was stopped in 1871. Today, the business community in the area mainly consists of tourism, industry, trade-in-goods and commercial-services.
During summer, Tolga comes alive with the annual local folk festival Olsok. During the festival you can sample local food, buy local handcraft or place a bid on an antique piece of furniture at the popular auction.
You can also find a supermarket, a petrol station, and a bank with a 24/7 cash machine (minibank) in Tolga.
Tynset
Tynset is well positioned in the mainland of Norway, being the "centre" of the Nord-Østerdalen Region of Innlandet county. To get here, you can easily take a train, drive your car or travel by airplane. The shortest route between Oslo and Trondheim - RV3 - actually runs through Tynset. The Rondevegen also connects Tynset with Lillehammer and Røros, and continues into Sweden.
Tynset has a population of 5400, and has a modern business and shopping centre with a wide variety of business activities. Agriculture and forestry are still the traditional ways of making a living, but municipal administration and service industries such as computer industry, law, finance and construction are playing an increasing role.
Røros
The mining town of Røros is sometimes called "Bergstaden" - which means "mountain town" due to its historical notoriety for copper mining. It is one of two towns in Norway that were historically designated "mining towns", along with the "silver-town" of Kongsberg. The modern-day inhabitants of Røros still work and live in the characteristic 17th and 18th century buildings which led to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
Røros is the 171st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5581. The municipality's population density is 3.2 inhabitants per square kilometer
You can reach Røros by train, car and airplane - which easily connects the city to the rest of Norway. This town also has a decent variety of shopping and other service alternatives.
How to get here
From | Distance |
|---|---|
Oslo | 300 km |
Hamar | 200 km |
Trondheim | 170 km |
Koppang | 100 km |
Stockholm | 650 km |
Gothenburg | 600 km |
Östersund | 330 km |
Mora | 315 km |
Copenhagen | 900 km |
Berlin | 1350 km |
Hamburg | 1240 km |
Amsterdam | 1690 km |
By car
Coming from the South the easiest route is by RV (road) 3. Just follow the signs Trondheim, Røros and later Tynset. An alternative route can be RV 30, from Koppang go East until you reach Akrestrømmen, then follow the RV 30 to Tynset. If you fly to Oslo Gardermoen the distance to Tynset is ca. 280 km. Be careful not to drive too fast, there are speed checks everywhere, better spend your money buying a nice new fly rod than to speeding tickets !
Coming from Sweden - take road 70 from Mora to the Norwegian border. Follow RV 218 to Drevsjo, then RV 26 to Isterfossen and Tolga.
The roads are usually very quiet.
By train
From Oslo - Gardermoen airport the journey by train will last approximately 4 hours.
By plane
More and more fisherman from Europe fly to Oslo - Gardermoen and rent a car at the airport. This is a fast and comfortable way to travel, and it is not very expensive anymore, if you are traveling with a small group.