Is the Kjerag Hike Free?

Yes. The trail is free, open, unguided and ungated, and nobody sells a ticket to it. There is no permit, no time slot and no booking system. You walk up from the car park at Øygardstøl whenever you like. The car park is paid, and getting to it is the part that costs you something.

Entrance ticketNone exists

Permit or bookingNot required

Gate or barrierNone

Opening hoursNone — the trail is never locked

Car park at the trailheadPaid

Road openRoughly mid-May to October or November

What free means here

It means there is nobody to pay. No turnstile, no wristband, no ranger at the bottom of the path. The trail starts behind the service building at Øygardstøl and goes up, and you are welcome to walk it at seven in the morning or at four in the afternoon, although I would argue strongly with the second of those. Nobody is checking. That is also why nobody will stop you going up in fog, and why the decision to turn back is yours alone.

I mention this because people used to arrive at my counter having tried to buy a Kjerag ticket online and failed, and assume the website was broken. It was not. If a page is offering you an entrance ticket to Kjeragbolten, what it is actually selling is transport or a guide with the word ticket printed on it. The shape of the real spending is set out on what the day costs.

What you do end up paying for

What works

The trail, the plateau, the boulder and the whole view
Standing in the queue for the photograph for as long as you like
Turning round at the first chain and walking back down
The toilets and the tourist information desk in the service building

Worth knowing

The car park at Øygardstøl, which is paid
Fuel or a rental car, plus about two and a half hours of road each way
A guide, which is optional in season and sensible outside it
A seat on a tour, which is really a seat in a van and not a ticket

The cost you cannot design away

Getting to the top of the road. The trailhead sits above Lysebotn at the top of 27 hairpin bends on Fv500, roughly two and a half hours from Stavanger by road, and there is no regular public bus to Lysebotn at all. So the choice is your own car, a rental, the ferry up the Lysefjord and a vehicle at the far end, or a booked seat. That is the entire economics of a Kjerag day, and it has nothing to do with the mountain being free. The routes are compared on getting there.

And outside the season

The trail is still free and still there. It is also under snow, the chains have been taken down for the winter, and the road is shut. Hiking Kjerag outside the open season needs winter equipment and a guide, which is a real cost and a sensible one. The dates are on the best month to hike.

Local tip

Being free is not the same as being casual. The most expensive Kjerag day I ever watched belonged to a man who parked at half past two, walked up in trainers, and had the rescue service out for him that evening. Start early and the free part stays free.

What there is to book

The hike is free. The problem is the road, which climbs 27 hairpin bends above Lysebotn and is shut by snow for most of the year. Without a car you are booking transport, not a ticket: see getting there without a car and the routes out of Stavanger.

Check dates & book

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need to book the Kjerag hike in advance?

No. There is no booking system for the trail and no cap on numbers. What people book is transport from Stavanger and a guide.

Is there anyone selling tickets at the trailhead?

No. The service building at Øygardstøl has toilets and a tourist information desk in season, not a ticket window.

Is the car park free too?

No, parking at the trailhead is paid. How it works is on the parking page.