About Formofossen
Formofossen was a powerful river waterfall on the Sanddøla River with a reported drop of 34m. I doubted that the waterfall’s main plunge was that tall based on what we were able to see, which the photo at the top of this page might attest. It seemed like this waterfall and the river itself might be more of a salmon fishing destination than a sightseeing attraction. This was based on some of the infrastructure and signage that we saw during our visit. In fact, Julie and I only knew of this waterfall when we saw a blue sign indicating its presence as we were making the long drive north along the E6 from Trondheim to Mo I Rana.
From a paved clearing (see directions below), we followed an unpaved dirt path leading downhill towards a sheltered picnic area with a fenced view at the brink of the falls. The trail continued to descend further downstream over some wooden steps. It ultimately led to a rock outcrop giving us a more distant profile view of the falls (as shown in the photo at the top of this page). However, this stairway and outcropping felt dangerous since the river was flowing hard, and it seemed real easy to fall into the river if one were to slip and fall while on that rock. Honestly, I couldn’t believe there was even a ladder leading right into the river, but then again, it was probably only useful when the river level would be low later in the Summer.
Now something that really got our attention while visiting Formofossen was the presence of some signs indicating the presence of parasites that were wiping out a large portion of the salmon population. Salmon fishing was said to comprise a large part of the Norwegian economy so I’m sure this was a devastating calamity at the time (we were there in July 2005). To my knowledge, it’s still not known what caused this parasite outbreak, and I’m not certain if it’s still persisting to this day.
Since we visited this waterfall after leaving the beautiful city of Trondheim, we’ll describe our route from there (even though the city was pretty far from the falls). By the way, Trondheim was 495km (about 6.5 hours drive) north of Oslo.
So we drove about 189km east of Trondheim along the highway E6 (passing by two toll stations on the way out of the city, paying 25 NOK and 10 NOK). Eventually, we’d reach a junction with the Route 74 (there were signs for Formofossen on the E6 alerting us to its presence), which we took as we exited the highway. Next, we drove for about 1.3km on the Route 74 continuing to follow the signs, then we turned left onto the county road 391 leading to the hamlet of Formofoss.
A little less than 1km from the Road 74, we veered left at a fork (still following the signs) to go over a bridge traversing the Sanddøla. Shortly after the bridge (maybe 100m), we then stopped the car at a clearing where we then proceeded to walk down a paved slope directly towards the picnic area and waterfall.
Find A Place To Stay
Related Trip Reports
Related Top 10 Lists
No Posts Found
Related Itineraries
Trip Planning Resources
Nearby Accommodations
Featured Images and Nearby Attractions
Visitor Comments:
Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...
Formofoss, Grong, Norge (Salmon Disease) January 16, 2009 8:16 pm - Hello, I think the parasite which is very dangerous for the salmons is GYRODACTYLUS SALARIS. If I remember, I will take many pictures of the place and I send them to you, on the summer . Take care all of you and an Happy New Year. Charles ...Read MoreVisitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall
Nearest Waterfalls
