Trollholmsund

At Trollholmsund a band of dolomite, pale and coarse, has weathered into a group of standing pillars several metres high on the shore of the Porsangerfjord, bright white against the dark stone and the water. Sami and Norwegian tradition tells that a family of trolls carrying a chest of gold along the coast were caught by the rising sun and turned to stone where they stood, which is the version told on the information board. A path of about thirty minutes leads from a car park on the E6 down across birch scrub and shore to the formation. The site is unstaffed and free, and the pillars are fragile, with pieces having broken away over the years.

What you actually see

• The white pillars - dolomite columns standing on the fjord shore.
• The colour contrast - pale rock against dark stone and Arctic water.
• The shore path - a half-hour walk down from the road.
• The troll legend - the story explained on a board at the site.

When to go

June to September, when the path is clear and the light long; the midnight sun in June and July gives unusual low light on the white rock. Winter access is possible but the path is unmarked under snow.

Honest expectations

The pillars are smaller than photographs suggest, a few metres rather than monumental. Climbing on them damages the soft rock and is discouraged. Facilities are a car park and a board, with nothing else.

Nearby

Lakselv and the Porsangerfjord road run south; Stabbursdalen National Park lies close inland.