Tjørnadalsfossen

Tjørnadalsfossen is found adjacent to Sandvinvatnet just south of Odda. From bridge at the outlet of Sandvinvatnet at the south end of Odda, follor Route 13 south for 3.5km to an unmarked pullout on the lake side of the road, directly across from a gated gravel road. From here, part of the falls can be seen by looking up above the trees across the road. To get close, walk up the gravel road to the top of the hill and look for an unmarked but obvious path that leads through the woods to a viewpoint atop of a small cliff where the entire waterfall can be seen. There should also be excellent views of the falls from the Strand-Sandvil trail (see link to Strondsfossen below) on the opposite side of Sandvinvatnet.Oddadalen is graced with dozens of waterfalls, several of them are among the more well known and famous waterfalls in Norway – and rightly so - but Tjørnadalsfossen dwarfs them all. Fed by one good sized lake and dozens of smaller ones, the Stølselvi produces a large volume of water and crashes from a high valley into Oddadalen in a mammoth stepped waterfall dropping a total of 515 meters (1,690 feet) in 6-7 distinct but marginally separated steps. During periods of heavy flow the falls essentially appear as one single interconnected series of cascading falls, however during lower flow periods at the end of the summer the steps between each distinct section of the falls become more apparent. The tallest individual step of the falls is the uppermost drop, falling approximately 225 meters (740 feet), however due to the immense size of the falls, when viewing it from near its base the true size of this step is difficult to comprehend due to foreshortening.The falls are named for its source valley, itself likely named for the small lakes that lie scattered on the terrain above the falls. "Tjørna" means "small lake" or "Tarn".