Name of Waterfall

Tvindefossen

Description

Tvindefossen is found along the E16 just under 11km north of Voss, watch for signs along the highway announcing the falls.As it is situated along the major highway running east out of Bergen, and en route to the famous Næroyfjord to boot, Tvindefossen is among the most popular and famous waterfalls in Norway. Though the drainage area for the stream isn’t large by any standard, the Kroelvi produces a powerful waterfall as it thunders 115 meters (377 feet) over a rugged cliff and descends an immensely photogenic series of stairsteps before flowing through a meadow below. Because of the small size of each step and the lack of uniformity of the steps across the broad width of the falls, it’s hard to conclusively determine exactly how many steps the falls consist of, but we would conservatively say at least 10 distinct tiers are present.
Because the Kroelvi drains from a basin at relatively low elevation (compared to many other waterfalls in Norway at least), the stream exhibits a greater degree of streamflow variation. In the winter and spring months the falls can balloon to a massive churning behemoth, sending blinding spray all the way across the valley, while during the late summer and early autumn months the flow can drop to low enough levels that it becomes possible to scramble nearly halfway up the bare rocks of the falls.Both Tvindefossen and Tvinnefossen are accepted and official spellings for this waterfall; signs at the falls spell it Tvindefossen, while Norway's official topographic maps label it as Tvinnefossen. The name Trollafossen is an older name which is not as commonly used today, but it also appears on some topographic maps.

Other Names

['Tvinnefossen', 'Trollafossen']

Magnitude

56.85

IWC Rating (International Waterfall Classification)

2.84

Total Height (ft)

377

Number of Drops

2

Average Width

150

Maximum Width

200

Average High Volume (Cubic ft per second)

75 cfs (8 months)

Average Low Volume (Cubic ft per second)

5 cfs (4 months)

Pitch

85 degrees

Run (ft)

500

Watershed or Feeder Stream

Kroelvi