Espelandsfossen

Espelandsfossen can be found about 200m south of Låtefossen on the opposite side of Oddadalen along Rv13 between its junction with the E134 and Odda. There is a single small pullout on the uphill side of the road where one or possibly two cars can park, but it is recommended that those who wish to view Espelandsfossen park at Låtefossen and walk up the road instead.Espelandsfossen is a prominent waterfall which thunders into Oddadalen almost directly across from the famous Låtefossen. The falls drop into the narrow valley in two distinct steps totaling 84 meters (275 feet) in height, with individual tiers of 26 meters (85 feet) and 55 meters (181 feet). Unfortunately due to the narrow confines of Oddadalen at the falls, and the shape of the gorge between the two tiers, only the lower drop is visible from the road in the valley below. It may be possible to see both tiers by hiking cross-country to a viewpoint overlooking the valley near the top of Låtefossen. While the Espelandselvi drains from a considerably smaller area than its counterpart across the valley, the falls can produce a very significant amount of spray – so much that taking pictures from the opposite shore of the river can be difficult, if not impossible during the peak of the melt season. At such time though the upper tier of the falls is completely hidden from view of the road below, the cloud of mist billowing from the falls can be clearly seen floating above the top of the lower tier. For many years there had swirled uncertainty around the height of Espelandsfossen. As the World Waterfall Database began compiling information about waterfalls many year ago, references would commonly be seen citing Espelandsfossen as a waterfall with a drop of 703 meters (2,307 feet), yet no photographic evidence could be found to back up such a claim. Though there are (at least) two waterfalls in Norway known as Espelandsfossen, neither is anywhere near that height, so the validity of this figure could not be confirmed. Finally an explanation surfaced: a simple typo. The falls were at one time indicated as dropping 103 meters (though in hindsight this even still proved to be a bit too generous), but someone misinterpreted the number as 703 meters (probably due to a bad photocopy or smudged type) and it seemingly stuck.