Kjeragbolten: The Wild Norwegian Tourist Attraction Could Never Exist In America

It looks fatally attractive... and yet no one has (so far) died.

Kjeragbolten: The Wild Norwegian Tourist Attraction Could Never Exist In America

Image Credit: @joecabahug

One of Norway’s most popular attractions will send a chill down your spine. It’s called Kjeragbolten, and it involves standing on a boulder trapped between two cliff faces, suspended hundreds – if not thousands – of feet in the air.


A terrifying lookout point in Norway is continuing to shock tourists from all around the world. The natural attraction is called Kjeragbolten. It’s a big old rock trapped between two sheer cliff faces, over a drop that will make your palms ooze with sweat.

Other than (presumably) providing thousands of peoples’ “look how adventurous I am” dating profile pictures, Kjeragbolten also recently made some ~waves~ on Instagram, where a video posted by Joseph “Joe” Ancog Cabahug racked up some 92,000 views. The video showed Joe walking onto the rock and dabbing (except with his head pointed at the sky), Usain Bolt style.

The video sent some Instagram users into paralysis by proxy (or something like that), with one writing: “I had tingling go through my legs watching this.” Another commented: “I got anxious watching this.” A further comment was: “I did it last year. In slippery conditions snow/rain its terrifying – 900 meter free drop.”

“Anyone else just instantly get 127 hours and final destination in their head?”

Instagram user @tasha_lala1

Others suggested, though dangerous, it isn’t quite as scary as it looks. One Instagram user, for instance, wrote: “I was 9 the first time I stood on this rock…no one tells you it’s flat on top and a ledge to walk over…still a favourite walk, can’t wait for my son to be old enough to complete the top.”

According to Unusual Traveller, “Despite it seeming very dangerous, there hasn’t been a Krejagbolten death recorded due to someone falling from the rock. There are, however, 11 Kjerag deaths of people who have died from Base Jumping, but none of those deaths have been from falling off this world-famous boulder.”

Notably, there are no fences stopping tourists from accessing Krejagbolten, nor any requirement for you to have a guide. There is a chain lying on the ground to help you step out onto Kjerag, but as Earthtrekkers put it: “it almost seemed more dangerous bending over to grab it than just stepping out onto the boulder unassisted.” Many people do the hike with kids, too (if not this last part on the rock).

It’s hard to imagine something like this existing in America, without there being all sorts of health and safety regulations (or without all sorts of things going horribly wrong). But anyway… Apparently, this lookout point is not even the most perilous piece of rock (in terms of the likelihood for it to crumble) in the area. There is another, much larger, flat rock platform along the walk where people often picnic which – though not deemed likely to fall any time soon (geologists are constantly updating their assessments) – some believe is more likely to fall sooner than the iconic wedged boulder everyone takes photos on.

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Kjeragbolten is in southern Norway. The closest town is Lysebotn, which is a 7.5 drive from Oslo (and 15 minutes away by car from Kjeragbolten). Most people stay in Stavanger though, to do the Kjeragbolten hike. Stavanger is a two-and-a-half-hour drive to the Kjeragbolten hike car park. Importantly, you can fly from Oslo to Stavanger, avoiding the 7.5-hour drive.

As for the hike itself, it’s a distance of 12 kilometres, has an elevation gain of 570 metres and takes 6-8 hours. It should only be done in summer, and any person with reasonable fitness should be able to do it in the right conditions.

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