26 August 2020, by Oana Badiu
Barheia is the most rewarding hike with the least effort in the Lyngen Alps in Northern Norway. Most of the other trails are long and very rocky, however Barheia hiking trail is more like a moderate walk through the forest.
One small part of the hiking trail is muddy, so waterproof shoes are recommended.
This hike is suitable also for a bit rainier day, as most of the trail follows a nice forest path.
Barheia trail head is located in Svensby, next to Svensby Tursenter AS. There is a parking spot next to the road which adds 700 m total to your hike or you can park a bit closer to the trail by following the gravel road up and parking next to the info centre. See directions on the map.
There are several trails starting from this point, including the Trollhytta (Troll cabin) hike, which is 6,4 km round way.
Having been already hiking in Norway for about 1,5 weeks after a knee injury that kept me from walking properly for about 5 weeks, I was kinda exhausted and the initial plan was that this was supposed to be a resting day.
Looking at the weather forecast it turned out that it was going to rain for the next 4 days while we were in Lyngen Alps and the last days would be the worst ones, so in the end I decided to pick a short hike for this day.
Thinking about the other moderate trails so far, I was thinking that this is actually a pretty easy hike and even though my legs were very tired, it would be easily doable. I was right, even though Barheia Hiking Trail is marked with "Moderate", it was actually the easiest moderate hike I have done in Lyngen Alps.
After you park your car, walk on the gravel road and you will encounter a gate. Just open the gate and move forward (don't forget to close the gate!) and after a few meters you will see the sign post with Barheia hike, 3 km moderate.
Probably the most "difficult" part is actually at the beginning, since you need to cross a small river and after the rocks the trail is a bit worn out and can be slightly slippery. However, I am talking about only few steps here.
After this, the trail follows a narrow path through the forest, which is a moderate ascent towards the peak. You'll probably get a bit sweaty on your way up, so it might be a bit strenuous, but not as difficult comparing to the other moderate hikes in Lyngen. There are no rocks, the path is pretty steady and it's not slippery. In the summer there can be quite many mosquitos and other bugs around here so it's good to carry mosquito repellent.
It was a bit of a rainy day, so even though you are hiking through the forest the vivid green of the grass and trees makes it kind of pretty. The higher you get, the thinner the trees are. You'll probably spend three quarters of the trail hiking through the forest until the views start to open up.
At some point there will be a patch of a very muddy part of the trail, but it's quite small. There are some planks to help you get across without getting wet, however good hiking boots are still recommended.
The Barheia peak is very flat and you can walk further in multiple directions to get a better view of the mountains and the fjords.
To get back to the car park you follow the same trail. We finished this trail in 2.5 h and the views were much better than I expected from a 351 m peak! This is a great trail for most people and it's perfect for a bit rainier day!
We stayed for 6 nights in Svensby at Solheim Fritidsgård, which is a great property with really nice people and it's very close to this trail and others as well! You can find more places to stay on the map below.
