Viewpoint Snøhetta from Hjerkinn

From the Tverrfjell car park the way is a wide gravel track that climbs gently across open mountain to Viewpoint Snøhetta, the pavilion that looks over the Snøhetta massif. Norsk Villreinsenter, which runs the viewpoint, says the path is about 1.5 km long and takes 20 to 30 minutes to walk up (the national park board says the same), with 20 slate slabs set into the ground that tell the natural and cultural history of Dovrefjell. You come back the same way.

It is 3.2 km there and back with 114 m of ascent by our height data, from about 1,100 m at the car park to about 1,220 m at the viewpoint; allow about an hour, longer if you stay to look. The grade is Easy: a wide gravel track and a stretch of path, with the climb spread along the way. It is open mountain, so the wind and weather can be harsher than the walk suggests.

This is musk ox and wild reindeer country. Norsk Villreinsenter's page says to keep at least 200 m from musk oxen if you come across them (the national park's visitor rules give 200 m as the recommended minimum), to stop and turn around if you find wildlife, since wild reindeer are very shy and flee far if frightened, and to keep more than 300 m from arctic fox dens (Miljødirektoratet says at least 300 m, and that it is forbidden to disturb the species); stay on the marked trails. Cycling on the path from the car park to the viewpoint is not allowed, and camping and overnight parking are banned at the car park, staying the night at the viewpoint is banned, and so are drones. Keep your dog on a leash, as the national park's visitor rules ask; dogs may not go into the building.

Norsk Villreinsenter's page says there is a toll road up to the car park, so check the charge before you drive; it says parking is free and that visiting the viewpoint is free, and the national park board's page says the same of the visit and of parking at the start of the trail. The centre's page gives the season as 4 June to 15 October, closing as soon as the snow returns in the autumn, and says the viewpoint may close briefly at short notice; the national park board gives it as 1 June to the last week of the autumn holiday and says the road up to the viewpoint car park is closed in winter.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.