Lysebotn

Last updated
Lysebotn
Village
Lysefjord Luftbild.jpg
View of the village and Lysefjorden (aerial view)
Norway Rogaland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Lysebotn
Location in Rogaland county
Norway location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Lysebotn
Lysebotn (Norway)
Coordinates: 59°03′19″N06°39′07″E / 59.05528°N 6.65194°E / 59.05528; 6.65194
Country Norway
Region Western Norway
County Rogaland
District Ryfylke
Municipality Sandnes
Elevation
[1]
8 m (26 ft)
Population
 (2017)
  Total13 [2]
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Post Code
4127 Lysebotn

Lysebotn is a village in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located at the eastern end of the Lysefjorden in a very isolated valley that is only accessible by a seasonal road or by boat. The name itself means the "bottom [end] of the Lysefjorden". It's a destination for over 100,000 tourists annually, and it is an access point for the Kjerag mountain, a popular Base Jumping spot. There are cruises and an express boat to Lysebotn from Skagenkaien in the city of Stavanger, Lauvvik in Sandnes, and the village of Forsand. All of which pass beneath the famous Preikestolen cliff on the way to Lysebotn. Lyse Chapel, built in 1961, is found at Lysebotn. Lysebotn at one time had its own school, but that is now closed. [3]

Contents

Economy

Lysebotn is largely populated by workers at the nearby Lysebotn Hydroelectric Power Station and Tjodan Hydroelectric Power Station, both of which are built inside the surrounding mountains. At the Lysefjord plant, the water falls 620 metres (2,030 ft) to the turbines, producing up to 210,000 kilowatts (280,000  hp ) of electricity. At Tjodan, the water falls 896 metres (2,940 ft) to yield an output of 110,000 kilowatts (150,000 hp). The two power plants provide electricity for more than 100,000 people.

Lysebotn today has its own campground, bed & breakfast, and tourist cabins. Guided kayak tours and other activity offerings are available during the summer. There are also trailheads near Lysebotn for access to the Lyseheiane back-country, and a huge flume for Lyse Power nearby, that generates hydroelectricity.

Transportation

The only way in to Lysebotn is by boat or by the spectacular Lysebotnvegen (Lysebotn road), officially known as Lyseveien (Bokmål) and Lysevegen (Nynorsk), which connects it to the nearby municipality of Sirdal in Agder county. The 29-kilometre (18 mi) long road rises over 900 metres (3,000 ft) up a very steep cliff, going through 27 hairpin turns, including one hairpin turn inside a 1,103-metre (3,619 ft) long tunnel that goes inside the mountain. The road was opened in 1984 and it is open only in the summer, when it is ice free and safe. The road has its highest point at 932 metres (3,058 ft) above sea level. At the top of the turns is Øygardstølen which has a parking lot, food service, and a service building for hiking trips to the nearby Kjerag mountain, Kjeragbolten boulder, and Kjeragfossen waterfall.

Lysebotn panorama.jpg
Lysebotn seen from Øygardstøl (full view)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preikestolen</span> Cliff and tourist attraction in Norway

Preikestolen or Prekestolen is a tourist attraction in the municipality of Strand in Rogaland county, Norway. Preikestolen is a steep cliff which rises 604 metres (1,982 ft) above Lysefjorden. Atop the cliff, there is an almost flat top of approximately 25 by 25 metres. Preikestolen is located near the Western part of the fjord, and on its North side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandnes</span> Municipality in Rogaland County, Norway

Sandnes is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway, and together the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies in the extreme western part of the vast municipality and it makes up about 5% of the total land area of the municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forsand</span> Former municipality in Rogaland, Norway

Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 780-square-kilometre (300 sq mi) municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Forsand. Other villages in the municipality included Lysebotn, Øvre Espedal, Oanes, Kolabygda, and Fløyrli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lysefjord</span> Fjord in Rogaland, Norway

Lysefjord or Lysefjorden is a fjord located in the Ryfylke area in Rogaland county in southwestern Norway. The 42-kilometre (26 mi) long fjord lies in the municipalities of Strand and Sandnes, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the city of Stavanger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryfylke</span> District in Rogaland, Norway

Ryfylke is a traditional district in the northeastern part of Rogaland county, Norway. The 4,546-square-kilometre (1,755 sq mi) district is located northeast of the city of Stavanger and east of the city of Haugesund and it encompasses about 60% of the county's area. It includes the mainland located northeast and east of the Boknafjorden and east of the Høgsfjorden. It also includes the islands located on the south side of the Boknafjorden. To the east, Ryfylke borders the districts of Setesdal and Sirdal, to the south is Jæren, and to the west is Haugalandet. Ryfylke is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kjerag</span> Famous mountain in Norway

Kjerag or Kiragg is a mountain in the Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 1,110-metre (3,640 ft) tall mountain sits on the southern shore of Lysefjorden, just southwest of the village of Lysebotn. Its northern side is a massive cliff, plunging 984 metres (3,228 ft) almost straight down to the fjord; a sight which attracts many visitors each year. Another tourist attraction, the Kjeragbolten, is a 5-cubic-metre (180 cu ft) stone wedged between two rocks is located on the mountain. The Kjeragfossen waterfall plunges off the mountain down to the fjord. It is one of the tallest waterfalls in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jøssingfjord</span> Fjord in Sokndal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway

Jøssingfjorden is a fjord in Sokndal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) long fjord is narrow and deep and is surrounded by mountains. It sits about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southeast of the municipal centre of Hauge. There is some settlement on the southeastern side of the fjord: the villages of Li, Vinterstø, and Bu. There is a road that runs along the southeast coast of the fjord, with sharp hairpin turns leading down from the mountains to the shore of the fjord both heading north and south from the fjord.

The Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station in Queensland, Australia is an electricity power station commissioned in 1963 with a maximum capacity of 66 megawatts (89,000 hp). It is in the locality of Barron Gorge in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Cairns. It replaced an earlier station which was the first underground power station in the country and the first hydroelectric station in Queensland. The power station was refurbished in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Møsvatn</span> Lake in Telemark, Norway

Møsvatn or Møsvann is a lake in Vinje Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is the tenth-largest lake in Norway with a surface area of 79.1 square kilometres (30.5 sq mi) and a volume of 1,573,523,000 cubic metres (1,275,676 acre⋅ft). The lake lies just east of the Hardangervidda National Park, in Skien watershed (Skiensvassdrag) catchment area. The lake discharges into the Måna river at a dam located on the Vinje-Tinn municipal border. The lake has an irregular shape with three arms. The longest length across the lake is about 40 kilometres (25 mi). Møsvatn is a shallow mountain lake by Norwegian standards, reaching a maximum depth of 68.5 metres (225 ft).

Nilsebuvatnet is a lake in the municipalities of Sandnes and Hjelmeland in Rogaland county, Norway. The 2.47-square-kilometre (0.95 sq mi) lake lies in the Lyseheiane mountains about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the village of Lysebotn and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the village of Årdal. The lake is regulated by a small dam on the southwest corner of the lake. The dam provides water for the Lysebotn power station. The lake drains out into the river Storåna which flows westward towards Årdal. The lake is accessible by a small service road from Lysebotn which leads up to the dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lysefjord Bridge</span> Bridge in Rogaland, Norway

Lysefjord Bridge Norwegian: Lysefjordbrua is a suspension bridge over the Lysefjorden in Rogaland county, Norway. The bridge connects the municipalities of Strand and Sandnes. Construction on the 639-metre-long (2,096 ft) bridge began in 1995 and was finished in 1997 at a cost of 150 million kr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringedalsvatnet</span> Lake in Vestland, Norway

Ringedalsvatnet is a lake in Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The 7-square-kilometre (2.7 sq mi) lake sits just east of the village of Skjeggedal and about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) east from the village of Tyssedal, which sits on the shore of the Sørfjorden. The lake is the main reservoir for a hydroelectric power station in Tyssedal which provides electricity for the power intensive industries in the nearby town of Odda. The 521-metre (1,709 ft) wide and 33-metre (108 ft) high Ringedals Dam was constructed from 1910–1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kjeragbolten</span> Boulder in Norway

Kjeragbolten is a boulder on the mountain Kjerag in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The rock itself is a 5-cubic-metre (180 cu ft) glacial deposit wedged in a large crevice in the mountain. It is a popular tourist destination and is accessible without any climbing equipment. However, it is suspended above a 984-metre (3,228 ft) deep abyss. It is also a popular site for BASE jumping. The boulder is just southwest of the village of Lysebotn, just south of the Lysefjorden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Høgsfjorden</span> Fjord in Rogaland, Norway

Høgsfjorden is a fjord in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies in the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Strand, and Gjesdal. The innermost part of the fjord is located at the village of Frafjord in the municipality of Gjesdal. It flows west to Dirdal and then heads northwards. At the village of Forsand, the Lysefjord branches off to the northeast. The Høgsfjorden continues to the northwest past the islands of Idsal and Idse before emptying into the Horgefjorden and ultimately into the vast Boknafjorden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyse AS</span>

Lyse is an industrial and multi-utility company based in Jæren and Ryfylke, Norway. The company has a yearly normal production of 9.5 TWh of hydroelectric power, develops and maintains the power grid in 14 municipalities as well as deliver fiberoptic broadband (Altibox) and other telecommunication services, natural gas distribution, district heating, retailing and installation services. The company's head office is located in Stavanger, Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trollfjord</span> Fjord in Nordland, Norway

The Trollfjord or Trollfjorden is a fjord in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) long fjord cuts into the island of Austvågøya and flows out into the Raftsundet strait. The fjord has a narrow entrance and steep-sided mountains surrounding it. The name is derived from troll, a figure from Norse mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tjodan Hydroelectric Power Station</span> Dam in Forsand

The Tjodan Power Station is a hydroelectric power station located in Forsand, Rogaland, Norway. It operates at an installed capacity of 110 MW, with an average annual production of about 310 GW·h. It opened in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kjeragfossen</span> Waterfall in Lysebotn, Norway

Kjeragfossen is a waterfall in the municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The 715-metre (2,346 ft) waterfall cascades down from the Kjerag plateau on the south shore of the Lysefjorden. It is one of the highest waterfalls in Norway and one of the highest in the world. It is a plunge-style waterfall that is usually only active about 5 months of the year. The waterfall is located in a very scenic area that has many tourists each year. The famous Kjeragbolten boulder is located nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyse Chapel</span> Church in Rogaland, Norway

Lyse Chapel is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the eastern part of the large Sandnes Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the very small village of Lysebotn, at the end of the Lysefjorden. It is one of the two churches for the Forsand parish which is part of the Sandnes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger. The brown, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1961 using designs by the architects Gustav Helland and Endre Årreberg. The church seats about 150 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flørli Hydroelectric Power Station</span> Dam in Flørli, Sandnes

The Flørli Power Station is a hydroelectric power station located on the shores of Lysefjord in the municipality Sandnes in Rogaland, Norway. The station was built in 1918 as the first in Lysefjord, from where it delivered power to Stavanger. The turbine hall was built in 1917 in Jugendstil, it is 80 m long, 9 m wide and stands 12 m tall. The water was supplied via two penstocks along which were built a cabled railway and a wooden stairway with 4,444 steps.

References

  1. "Lysebotn, Forsand (Rogaland)" (in Norwegian). yr.no . Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  2. "Lysebotn". 8 June 2020.
  3. Store norske leksikon. "Lysebotn" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-02-22.