Canoeing in Norway

[Glenn MacGrady]

I know nothing about the paddling geography of Norway other than that it is listed as having the 7th most lakes in the world at 20,000. This thread is a transparent attempt to draw our member, @Thestripper, (or anyone else) into telling us where he lives in Norway, what kind of lakes or rivers he canoes, and perhaps post some pictures.

The 10 Countries With The Most Lakes

Considering only lakes that are over 100,000 square meters or 0.1 square kilometers; countries that contain the most lakes are listed in this post.

a-z-animals.com

 

[Thestripper]

I know nothing about the paddling geography of Norway other than that I saw a list that it has the 7th most lakes in the world at 20,000. This thread is a transparent attempt to draw our member, @Thestripper, (or anyone else) into telling us where he lives in Norway, what kind of lakes or rivers he canoes, and perhaps post some pictures.

The 10 Countries With The Most Lakes

Considering only lakes that are over 100,000 square meters or 0.1 square kilometers; countries that contain the most lakes are listed in this post.

a-z-animals.com

Hi Glenn. Norway is a narrow but long country. North to south it's the same distance as New York to Miami. The whole country is mountainous and there are many rivers. These are are usually short and too steep to paddle, or they are big and slow flowing through farmlands, or they are regulated.. There are of course a few really nice ones and generally the further north you go the more you get a feel that you are in unspoiled nature.

Author Øystein Køhn has written many books on canoeing in Norway in the 80's and 90's. One of them is called The top 100 canoe routes in Norway. They are hard to come by nowadays and are only available in Norwegian though.

I live in the Lofoten Islands. There's quite a few lakes around here but they are small and the surrounding terrain is very steep, Portaging is like mountaineering with a canoe. When I paddle around here I usually just go a lap around the lake in an hour or two and catch some trout and then walk home again.

In my opinion, the best thing about Norway when it comes to canoeing is that it's close to Sweden. Northern Sweden is where you will find the long forest rivers that you can travel on for many days. Or if you start even further north you will be above the treeline and travel down towards the forest and subsequently emerge at the coast. There's heeps of lakes if you are interested in that but the fishing is not so good. Mostly pike and Perch, though some areas are good for trout and salmon as well. It's no where near as good as the fishing in Norway though. If you go north of Luleå the rivers are not regulated and you can get the sense of real untouched wilderness at times. Much like a miniature Alaska. Here is a great map source with both aerial photos (not satelite!) and laser scanning layers. https://minkarta.lantmateriet.se/

Finland is Probably also a great canoeing destination. Known as the land of the thousand lakes, it should be.

Here's a video I took a few years back. This is very representative of how a Swedish forest river looks. They have mostly manageable whitewater, some long rapids but mostly shorter ones like this.
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[billconner]

I attended a session at Canoecopia on pardling fjords. It looked fantastic.

 

[Rubbaboo]

Hey Thestripper, super neat! A visit to Scandinavia is high on the list. Sweden’s trespass laws would make travel and exploring pretty easy. Are they similar in Norway?
What are the main brand of canoes found over there?

 

[Thestripper]

Hey Thestripper, super neat! A visit to Scandinavia is high on the list. Sweden’s trespass laws would make travel and exploring pretty easy. Are they similar in Norway?
What are the main brand of canoes found over there?

Hi Rubbaboo.

I think what you have in mind is the Swedish "Right of Public Access/Freedom to Roam". You can read about it here: https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/...ral-tourism/about-the-right-of-public-access/

It's pretty much the same in Norway: https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-tips-a-z/right-of-access/#:~:text=In Norway, you can hike,and show respect for nature.

The Right to Roam is indeed a wonderful thing. Unfortunately it's also very fragile and in later years it has been tightened up some. Especially in Lofoten where I live and some other areas. This is because too many people come and the pristine nature suffers from that. People are generally bad at cleaning up after themselves. Human faeces is also a big problem in some places. This is a backlash of Instagram/social media selfie hotspots that attract people from all over the world to a few viral places that have great views but have been run down and are looking sad nowadays. So if you come here, especially if you are in the more untouched areas -do apply a great deal of respect for nature. Leave without a trace! Nature and The Right to Roam depends on it.

The main brand of Canoes in Norway by far is the Ally folding canoe. If you want to know more about it then head over to "The Worst Canoe You Ever Paddled" thread. Second hand boats of good quality, such as a composite wenonah or a royalex prospector are on the market about once a year in Norway and they go very quickly. I think there are a few places that might rent out Venture PP prospectors but I do not know where or who they are.

Sweden has a bit better canoes. You can rent some Nova Craft, PP prospectors or Royalex boats if you are lucky. My friend runs the biggest outfitter operation in northern Sweden (perhaps the only one in fact). He might be getting a shipment of Esquif canoes for 2023. Contact me if you are going and I will hook you up.