Parking at Kjerag

You park at Øygardstøl, at the top of the hairpins, and it is paid. The car park is large, with several hundred spaces, and the facility operates roughly from mid-May to the end of October. It is the only car park for the hike, and the trail starts behind the service building at the edge of it.

WhereØygardstøl, above Lysebotn

CostPaid

CapacitySeveral hundred vehicles

Facility seasonRoughly mid-May to the end of October

On siteToilets, tourist information desk in season

Alternative car parksNone

How it works in practice

You drive up Fv500 from Lysebotn, arrive at the top of the 27 bends, and the car park is there with the service building at the end of it. Parking is charged, and the arrangements for paying are set by the operator of the facility rather than by anybody connected with the trail. I am not going to quote you an amount, because amounts change and a stale figure is worse than none.

Capacity is not usually the problem it is at other Norwegian trailheads. There is room for several hundred cars, and in eleven seasons I saw it genuinely full only on the best August afternoons. If you arrive at a sensible hour you will park.

The timing that matters more than the space

Arriving late is the real parking problem, and not because of the spaces. The hike is 6 to 10 hours and the road back to Stavanger is about two and a half. People who roll into the car park in the early afternoon are committing to finishing in the dark and driving the hairpins afterwards. I watched that decision get made, from the counter, more times than I would like. There is a last sensible start time and it is earlier than most people think: see the best time of day.

What the service building gives you

What works

Toilets, which is the last chance for about eleven kilometres
A staffed tourist information desk in season
The wall map, which shows the three peaks in profile
Somewhere to wait out a squall before you commit to the climb

Worth knowing

It is seasonal, like the road and the car park
There is nothing at all on the trail itself — no water, no shelter
The weather at the car park is not the weather on the plateau
Nobody there can tell you whether you personally will make it

If you have no car and are looking at this page to work out whether parking is your problem, it probably is not: there is no regular public bus to Lysebotn, so the question becomes transport rather than parking. That is on the no-car page. If you are driving, the road itself deserves five minutes of your attention first: the hairpins.

Local tip

Fog sits on the plateau while the car park is in sunshine more often than people expect. If you arrive to blue sky and the tops are hidden, that is not a good sign, and the tourist information desk will tell you so if you ask.

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

Is parking at Kjerag free?

No. The car park at Øygardstøl is paid. The trail itself is free: see is the hike free.

Will I get a space in high season?

Almost always. The car park holds several hundred vehicles and is only tight on the busiest August afternoons.

Is there parking anywhere else for the hike?

No. Øygardstøl is the only trailhead and the only car park.