Låtefossen

About this place

Låtefossen is a 165-metre waterfall in Ullensvang Municipality, Vestland county, western Norway, about 14 km south of the town of Odda in a straight line. It is the best known of the many waterfalls in the Odda valley, spread over a ten-kilometre stretch. It is special in that two separate streams flow down from the lake Lotevatnet and join in the middle of the fall. It is really two waterfalls, Skarsfossen to the south and Låtefossen to the north. National Road 13 crosses the falls on an old six-arched stone bridge built in 1867 to 1869. It was a favourite of English and German tourists in the 19th century, and in 1995 an estimated 650,000 people stopped to see it. The two white streams crash down either side of a green rocky knoll, then merge into a roaring river that runs under the arches of the stone bridge. Spray drifts over the road and rainbows appear on sunny days. The flow stays steady all year round. Visitors stop at the falls and walk onto the bridge for a close view, and there is a visitor centre beside the falls. The road gets busy in summer, and the roads authority has posted guards to direct traffic over the bridge, so watch for cars and expect to get wet from the spray.