Tracing Norway's vanishing summer farms along a 65km trail
A 65km hike along Norway's Stølsruta offers a window into seterdrift, the seasonal, women-led summer farming where cattle roam to high pastures; UNESCO recognised it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2024, and the route crosses the Stølsvidda plateau with simple wooden lodgings, cowbells and kulning. Once there were about 100,000 summer farms; today fewer than 1,000 remain. The hike emphasizes a low-impact approach, advance bookings, and the Cattle Code/Leave No Trace, while visitors sample traditional foods like brunost and risrøt and hear stories of mountain life from local farmers.