Øylo - Hugastølen - Liavegen Hiking Trail

This is an old mountain farm and tourist road which was widely used in the inn's "heyday ", from the 1880s to the middle of the next century. It was primarily a shortcut for guys on the farm, and lots of milk and other products have been carried down here by farm helpers from Øylo throughout the years. But it was also a popular route for tourists in Øylo. It was a long walk with hard climbs from Øylo and all the way to Hugakollen, so perhaps they were stiff, sore and tired when they got back down again, even though the milkmaid on Øylostølen had served them traditional food in both on the way up and down. A few hundred meters northwest of Øylo a road takes down to the pond in Øylooset. You drive a few meters onto the road and park slightly to the side so you do not close off the access to the pond. Right on the upper side of the E16 you will see the information board and white bricks that show you the right path up. It gets steeper and steeper, and soon you wonder if they went up here with cows and pack horses. No, they probably did not. They had to take a longer way when they were with their livestock or came to get cheese and butter with packhorses. Once you have gotten nice and sweaty going up the slopes, you'll eventually get into a warm and pleasant valley, and soon you'll see the old mountain farms in front of you. If you still have energy, there are several alternative hikes to add on. You can for instance go around Ala, or you can take the little detour of 10 min away to the strange Alasteinene. Hugakollen is close and an alternate trip when you first are here on Hugastølen. When you get back down from Hugakollen, go west where signs indicate the old mountain farm road down to Kvam. Then you can go to the farm Kvam, or you can turn right when you arrive down at the old King's Road (Kongevegen), and go down to Neset (E16). If you want to get down to the viewpoint from Hugastølen, but are dreading the steep slopes, you can instead follow the gravel road down to E16. Ant then there is something called Liavegen. If you choose this road back down, you can at 100m north of the parking lot at Hugastøle follow signs for "Liavegen" east down toward the creek Ala. The stretch of the way that you will enjoy, goes from the parking lot and across Ala (easy to jump on rocks outside the flooding times). The road is broad and nice and winds down slightly into birch forests, which eventually turn into spruce forest. When you get to the sign "Alagile", you hear the roaring falls, and if you want to get closer then just go to the edge and look down into the gorge. After about ½ hour walk you are on the mountain farm road on a stretch again a bit on slopes. You can also follow Liavegen further southeast across the other side of the mountain farm road. Then you will after about 15 minutes reach the marked trail between Tumleøygarde and Tveitastølo.