National waterfall of Norway

We drive out of Bardufoss away from the main highway of Northern Norway and onto a small side road. It is almost spooky out here – the traffic on this road is virtually none existent despite the fact we are in the midst of the tourist season. Maybe part of the reason for the loneliness of the road is the fact this is also a road to Sweden – but the border to Sweden was closed at this time so nobody would come from that side.

We drive a bit out here since we saw a sign for a waterfall a little down the road and I always seem to find time to go out of my way to catch that extra waterfall. It is only a 15 kilometer drive and the road is in pretty good condition so the drive is fast.

We arrive at the Waterfall of Målselvfossen – it turns out this waterfall has been named the national waterfall of Norway. The favorite status amongst Norwegians might be the reason this waterfall survive while so many others has had to give way for a waterpower plant which is common around Norway where most every river has been tamed by a hydro plant. Actually if it is a rainy summer in northern Norway the price of powers falls in all of Scandinavia because of the extra production of electricity in the Norwegian waterpower plants.

The waterfall is easily accessible from the road – there is a parking lot at a little resort but it is possible to go down to the river and have a closer look at the waterfall. I am not absolutely sure if we were trespassing on private property but the signs here weren’t very good so we thought it was ok to go down and have a look at the waterfall.

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The waterfall is pretty impressive – it might be helped by extra water from the melting snow at this time of the year. The water does seem pretty fast flowing and the fall is impressive – even though it isn’t all that high.