Trollkyrkja

Troll's Church


Useful Information

Location: 18 km from Ålesund, to Molde, then north on road 64. Parking lot (62.86728491335483, 7.275113546635621) with bus station Trollkyrkja and signposted trail. 3 km hike uphill.
(62.8887917, 7.2678054)
Open: no restrictions.
[2020]
Fee: free.
[2020]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave Speleologyriver cave.
Light: bring torch
Dimension:  
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:  
Address: Trollkyrkja, 6440 Elnesvågen, Tel: +47-71-201-000.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History


Description

Trollkyrkja (Troll's Church) is one of the longest caves of Norway and has one of the biggest chambers. It is quite spectacular because of the waterfall in this huge chamber, and spectacular pictures can be found on pinterest and others, which boosted its popularity.

The cave is located on Trolltindan (887 m asl) hill, a three kilometer hike from the parking lot. While undeveloped, it is actually well developed as a tourist attraction, with a marked trail a printed booklet with description and cave map which is available from a wooden letter box However, we recommend very good and water tight walking shoes, while the trail to the cave is almost a single lane road, there are fords through rivers and boggy parts. The second part goes steep uphill and you should plan at least 1.5 hours walk to the cave, less for the way back. OSM actually has all the cave locations and the trail, so we suggest to use this map on your gps.

The Trollkyrkja is a river cave, its easy to find the main entrance by following the river to its resurgence. The passage inside is a canbyon like river passage with huge blocks. As there is always the river on the ground, it is futile to try to avoid the water. We recommend a helmet (many parts are quite low), a headlamp, and gum boots. And its definitely cold in the cave so bring an additional jacket for the cave. Actually you should never walk more than 10 m in Norway without a warm jacket in your backpack.