The experience & activities – slow life at Haukali333

The crofter’s house – cosy and close to wild, beautiful nature

At Haukali333 you stay in a small crofter’s house, recreated as it might have looked around 1850 – with the most important modern comforts preserved, right in the middle of wild and beautiful nature by Lake Haukalivatnet. On the ground floor you’ll find a living area that serves as both living room and kitchen, where you cook, eat, play games and talk long into the evening. In the loft on the second floor there is a dormitory-style sleeping area with up to 6 (8) comfortable, made-up beds – perfect for couples, friends or a small group who want to stay close to each other and the surrounding landscape.

Practical facilities indoors and outdoors

In the small kitchen area you have a compact but functional kitchenette with fridge, oven and cooking plates. The cabin has a bathroom with a Cinderella toilet, and outside you’ll find an outdoor shower with both cold and hot water. Efficient heating keeps the house warm and cosy even when the evenings turn chilly.

You live comfortably by modern standards, while also getting a glimpse of what everyday life might have been like for those who lived here around 150 years ago – close to the very same wild, beautiful nature.

Meet Forsand’s fascinating cultural history

– from the Ice Age to local legends

Join a walk through nature and history in Forsand. Along the route you’ll encounter traces from the Ice Age, the Bronze Age, dramatic local events and old legends that still live on in the stories told here.

The tragic incident on Lake Haukalivannet (1919)

By the road along Haukalivannet stands a memorial to the drowning accident of 9 November 1919. Here you can read the names and ages of the children and adults who lost their lives that evening. According to the story, a young boy lost his cap in a gust of wind. As they tried to retrieve it, the boat became unstable and capsized. The rescue attempts could not save everyone, and six children and young adults drowned. The accident is one of the best‑known tragedies in the area from the early 1900s and is still remembered locally. After this event, construction of the road along the lake was started.

The Esmark Moraine – the Earth’s geological history right outside the door

IAt the end of Lake Haukalivatnet lies the Esmark Moraine, one of the world’s most famous moraines. It is included on the geological world heritage list and is one of the clearest pieces of evidence that Norway was once covered by ice, because it tells an important part of the country’s history beneath the ice.It was the Danish‑Norwegian geologist and professor Jens Esmark who discovered the moraine at Forsand. He understood that it had been created by enormous glaciers, and in 1823–1824 he presented the groundbreaking theory of the Ice Age – a theory that changed how we view the Earth’s history. From Haukali 333 you can row over to the moraine in a rowing boat, paddle a canoe or walk along the lakeshore – the walk takes around 15 minutes. Here you can swim at the small sandy beach below the moraine, take unique photos, or sit quietly and study the shapes in the landscape while reflecting on the contrast between your own short stay and the vast timescales that have formed the valley. Read more

Landa – 2,000 years of settlement

Landa (also known as Fossanmoen) in Forsand has changed Norwegian history. Major archaeological excavations revealed that there has been continuous settlement here for over 2,000 years – from around 1500 BC (the Bronze Age) up to about 600 AD (the Migration Period). Excavations covering more than 80,000 square metres challenged earlier assumptions and led to several important new discoveries. When you walk through the area today, you are quite literally walking on historic ground.

Streinberg – trolls, hidden beings and old folk beliefs

By Streinberg people once believed the mountain could hide entrances into the rock, where trolls and underground beings lived. Stories like these are part of old Norwegian folk belief, where dramatic, powerful mountains were explained through legends about hidden worlds and mysterious forces. When you walk along the mountains by the Lysefjord today, it’s easy to understand why imagination flourished here.

The legend of Uburen – the child that was abandoned

According to an old legend from Forsand, a young girl had a child with a priest and, in shame and despair, left the baby out by the mountain Uburen. People used to say that baby cries could be heard by the mountain in old times – the legend is often linked to the 1700s. The story of “Utburen” exists in several versions, but common to them all are the feelings of grief, shame and a mighty mountain as the backdrop.
Along the road you can see the mountain Uburen from a distance. If you take an extra loop on the path down towards the sea, you come close in under this mountain and get a powerful nature experience combined with the old legend.

Ending at the Lysefjord – coffee, baked goods and everyday life

The walk can be rounded off down by the Lysefjord. Here you’ll find a small shop and café at Joker Lysefjorden Marina, where you can buy coffee, fresh baked goods and groceries before heading back to the cabin. If you choose the path, you pass the cemetery by Forsand Church and follow the walking and cycling path down towards the fjord. In this way, nature, history, legend and local everyday life are all woven together in one and the same walk.

Along the country road – from mountain to fjord

From mountain to fjord – a walk through nature and cultural history

A full day along the country road, on foot or by bike, about 7 km each way.

When you want a day without a summit hike, you can let the peaks wait and follow the road from the mountain farm by Lake Haukalivatnet down to the Lysefjord.

Along the way you pass traces of dramatic events and deep history. By the road you pass the memorial to the family of seven who drowned in Haukalivatnet in 1919. At the end of the lake you see the striking Esmark Moraine, and further on you reach Landa, the prehistoric village from the Bronze Age that has helped change our understanding of Norwegian history. Here you can use digital information to learn more about the period, the events and the discovery of the ancient settlement.

Eventually you arrive at the Lysefjord – perhaps Norway’s most spectacular fjord, with views up towards both Preikestolen and Kjerag. Along the fjord you can continue to Lysefjorden Marina, where you’ll find a small shop and café with fresh baked goods and coffee before you return the same way. This is a walk that is not just about getting from A to B, but about moving slowly through layers of natural and cultural history – from mountains, via the Ice Age and the Bronze Age, to today’s fjord life.

You can also choose a summit hike, following the trail along the ridge with steep valleys and lakes on either side. Up here you’ll notice the silence, the powerful mountains and the spectacular views. You can clearly see the marks left by the Ice Age in the rock and boulders, in unique and untouched terrain. The hike takes place on solid, safe ground above the tree line.

If you bring binoculars, you can see Preikestolen rising majestically above the Lysefjord, and even spot visitors standing out on the plateau. Let us as your hosts know if you would like a lift up to the starting point in the mountains; from there you walk into wild valleys while still keeping an overview of your overnight base at Haukali almost the whole way.

A truly unique and spectacular trip that will give you memories for life.

Food and self-sufficiency – from lake and garden to table

A big part of the experience at Haukali333 is the food you make yourselves, from what the place provides. During your stay you can:

• Collect fresh eggs from the hens in the garden
• Pick herbs, salad, strawberries, potatoes and other vegetables from the field when they are ready
• Walk down to the lake, about 100 metres from the house, and fish with a rod or net

You can prepare your meals in the wood-fired oven, on the stove inside or on the outdoor grill. Eating dinner made from ingredients you have gathered yourself from the water and the land around the house creates a calm, genuine feeling – and shows how little it takes for something to feel like pure luxury.

Stories from Haukali – when you want to know more

If you wish, the hosts can come by and share stories about life at Haukali around 1850:

• The poor and busy life of the crofters
• Drowning accidents and strong family ties
• The people who left for America in search of a better life.

These stories add an extra dimension to the house, the paths and the fields around you – and turn your stay into more than just a holiday. It becomes a few days where past and present meet, in the middle of wild and beautiful nature.