Tur til Bondhusvatnet

Bondhusvatnet – an easy hike to a stunning lake of melted glacier water.

Bondhusvatnet is a stunning lake of melted glacier water from the Bondhusbreen glacier, which is a branch of the Folgefonna glacier, Norways third largest glacier. Bondhusvatnet (the lake) and the Bondhusbreen (the glacier) are located above the small place Sunndal in Mauranger.

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We have been wanting to travel from Bergen to Bondhusvatnet for a while. When the opportunity to go sailling came up and matched with the weather forecast in the fjords south-east of Bergen we decided to go here the fjord route. However the most common way to visit Bondhusvatnet and Furedalsfossen is by car.

Sailing from Bergen to Sunndal

We did a sail and hike trip, which made it perhaps even more special. We sailed out of Bergen and headed for beautiful Kvinnherad located south of Bergen. We sailed through the Lukksundet and into Rosendal where we spent the first night. Rosendal is in itself an amazing place with several high peaks available from the harbour and is worth visiting even if you are not planning on hiking.

You might also like our post about hiking in Rosendal: Fra fjord til fjell i Rosendal

To get to Bondhusvatnet one has to sail further into the fjords. As we sailed on towards Sunndal we entered the Maurangerfjorden, and we got a stunning view as the fjord branch becomes narrower and the mountains higher.

Furebergsfossen

One highlight on the way was the sight of the Furebergsfossen that suddenly appeared after passing Ænes and entering the Maurangerfjorden. Furebergfossen is pretty massive, and the car road actually crosses in front of it. Well worth a stop if you come by car, and of course, well worth a close up by boat.

If you want visit this waterfall by boat it is possible to contact Hardangerfjord Adventure. We had an amazing time with them on another rib boat trip a year ago, you can read about that here: Hardangerfjord Adventure – a true adventure of the fjords!

Arriving at Sunndal was another spectacular sight, the mountains, the green fields, and the glacier in the far sight was looking like a postcard.

In Sunndal it is possible to stay at the Hardangerfjord Lodge – a beautiful old hotel. There are also camping huts and campsites.

Hiking to Bondhusvatnet from Sunndal

The road leading from Sunndal to the lake Bondhusvatnet is called Isveien (the ice road). It was built in 1863 to allow transport of ice from the glacier and down to the valley of Sunndal. The transport meant putting blocks of ice into small rowing boats, transporting it across the lake, to then put it onto horse and carriage. Not a terrible successful project, apparently, but at least it resulted in the gravel road up to the lake. The Keiserstien is the foothpath leading up to the glacier.

The hike up from Sunndal to the start of the Bondhusvatnet took us about 50 minutes starting from the harbour/camping. If you come by car there is a car park a little further up the road, however, there is limited capacity in the carpark, and the road is narrow allowing only one car to pass at the time.

Once you join the gravel hiking path, you instantly find yourself in wild nature. Small waterfalls and nice scenery characterise the valley you walk along. The path is mostly gravel road and not at all challenging. If you want to walk all the way to the inner part of the lake the path becomes a little more uneven and good hiking shoes are recommended.

Arriving at the lake there are some really pretty sights. It is well worth walking along the lake to the inner part, as the path becomes a little more uneven and interesting, and you pass a few more waterfalls such as Pyttelven which is large enough to have bridges across it. (the amount of water depends on which time of year you visit).

Other hikes in the area

As we arrived in the evening we turned around at the inner part of the lake. However, the next time we visit we might plan to do a longer hike in the area. It is possible to go up to the Bondhusbreen glacier by continuing up the Keiserstien. To find the footpath continue to the very far south end of the lake, where Brufosselven ends.

Another option is to hike up Storabrekka (962 masl), and onto Breidablikk by the Breidablikkbreea (glacier branch) at 1322 where there is a small hut, it is even possible to go on to Fonnabu at 1452 masl. Another option not so long and high is to carry on to the Hovden at 650 masl. The Bondhusvatnet is located at 187 masl so these hikes are considerably longer and partly very steep.

In other words, this area is an eldorado for hiking!

As we were hiking to the Bondhusvatnet we met several people on bicycles, too, so biking from Sunndal to the lake is another option.

Back down in Sunndal we finished off the evening with a dip in the fjord and a nice BBQ. All in all an amazing sailing trip – we just love having some interesting destinations when we go sailing.