An exciting nature

Few places in Norway can claim such strong and distinct traces of the last Ice Age as North Troms Large valleys here were carved out under the weight of several hundred metre thick ice masses which scraped down the bedrock. When the temperature rose and the ice masses collapsed, the ice masses melted into water which flowed towards the sea. The sea level rose, filling valleys and creating the large fjords Ullsfjord, Lyngen, Kåfjord, Storfjord, Reisa, Kvænangen and Langfjorden.

The sheer, steep mountain walls stand as monuments to the activity of the ice masses. Only in North Troms will you find such an alpine mountain kingdom with some mountains rising 1000-1800 m directly from the sea. In some places, there are prominent nunataks, peaks created during the last Ice Age when they rose above thick ice masses. The best known of these are Piksteinen in Sørfjord, Otertind in Storfjord and the sharply pointed Kvænangen Peaks at the entrance to the Kvænangen Fjord. In Arctic North Troms, which enjoys snowy winters, there are still large glaciers, including Øksfjordjøkulen in Kvænangen and many glaciers in the Lyngen Alps in Lyngen.