Besseggen
OSM hiking route on the Besseggen ridge, Jotunheimen, Norway (14.5 km line), Gjendesheim to Memurubu. Vertical figures sampled from Copernicus GLO-30. Days (1) is a placeholder from round(lengthKm/12); published descriptions treat this as a one-day walk (unverified).
Byline
- The Hiking World editorial · author
Desk byline for seed records. Named surveying editors replace this once a trail is verified.
Figures marked provisional are seed data and still need verification. Source and last-checked date sit under each cited value.
Editorial v1 · Provisional catalog
- SAC T2
- Mountain hiking. Continuous trail, some steep ground, sure-footedness helpful.
- YDS Class 1
- Class 1. Walking on an established path; low fall risk.
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Ingested from OpenStreetMap relation 1417687 (ODbL). The mapped line and 2D length are derived from that geometry. Ascent, descent, and high/low points are sampled from Copernicus GLO-30 (copernicus-dem:glo-30) and remain provisional. Water, permits, and hazards were not taken from OSM tags and must be verified.
OSM 2D length is 14.5 km (relation 1417687; longest-component snap of Gjendesheim-Besseggen-Memurubu, ref jot2, roundtrip=no). Published 13–16 km / 1 day (DNT/ut.no Klassikeren over Besseggen, https://ut.no/turforslag/114842/klassikeren-over-besseggen, checked 2026-08-24, ~13.7–14 km, high 1,743 m) are cross-checks only, not this DataPoint. No wikidata=* on the relation; none attached.
typicalDays 1 is Math.round(lengthKm/12), a placeholder. Published descriptions treat this as a day-hike (~8 hours); that stamp is not this field.
Water was not mapped to named WaterSource points (no honest atFraction). Lake and stream water along the ridge was not positioned from an official named list this pass.
Water
No water sources recorded.
Permits & fees
No permit required.
Getting there
Sourced legs to the Gjendesheim (OSM line start) base start station — where this trail record begins. This is not a route planner: durations are approximate and marked provisional until an official transport page confirms them.
Bus · Oslo (OSL / city) → Gjendesheim
NOR-WAY Bussekspress, Valdresekspressen. About 5 h. NW150 Valdresekspressen Oslo–Fagernes–Beitostølen extends seasonally to Gjendesheim at the foot of Besseggen (https://www.nor-way.no/en/routes/valdresekspressen/, checked 2026-08-24). Oslo–Beitostølen is about 3 h 45 min on that page; the Gjendesheim extension is the summer/autumn seasonal tail.
nor-way.no · 2026-08-24 · official · provisional
No rail to Gjendesheim. Most walkers use Gjendebåtene one way (Gjendesheim↔Memurubu) and hike the ridge the other; book the boat in advance (https://www.gjende.no/en/, checked 2026-08-24).
Plan from your location
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Trailheads
- Gjendesheim (OSM line start) car-free: seasonal
- Memurubu (OSM line end) car-free: seasonal
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Hazards
- Narrow, exposed ridge scrambling on the Besseggen knife-edge: DNT/ut.no describes steep passages and an airy feeling with Gjende about 400 m below one side and Bessvatnet on the other (https://ut.no/turforslag/114842/klassikeren-over-besseggen, checked 2026-08-24). Graded svært krevende (very demanding) on that page.
- Sudden weather change in Jotunheimen; Gjende sits at 984 m with peaks above 2,000 m on all sides (https://www.gjende.no/en/, checked 2026-08-24).
- Extremely crowded in July, August, and early-September weekends (ut.no same trip page, checked 2026-08-24) — a logistics press, not a closure.