Tossebergs­klätten

Café and Restaurant

As early as 1928, the first kiosk was built on Tossebergsklätten, where you could buy home-baked bread and coffee. Nowadays, the café and lunch restaurant is open during the summer. Many people have tried the classic Värmland dish “motti with pork” here. In addition to motti and pork, they serve great shrimp sandwiches and coffee and ice cream. 

Opening hours Tossebergsklätten

The road up to Tossebergsklätten is closed with a barrier and is not passable during the winter. In the summer, the barriers are kept open and you can come up to see the view. Sometimes the upper barrier is closed and then you have to go on foot. It’s not far to walk, but it’s steep. The café and restaurant is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the summer. The observation tower is only open when the restaurant is open. The same goes for the service houses with public toilets.

Observation tower

If you’re not satisfied with the view from the mountain, you can take the steps up to the observation tower to see even further. In clear weather, you can see up to 80 kilometers. The first observation tower was already in place in the late 1800s. At the top was a flag declaring the union between Sweden and Norway. The current tower was inaugurated in 1934.

Legend has it that you could see seven church towers, count and see how many you can see.

Selma Lagerlöf wrote about Tossebergsklätten

It is said that Selma Lagerlöf must have gotten the inspiration for Gösta Berling’s Saga when she was standing here at the top and looking out over the landscape. Maybe she saw a bear. In any case, she renamed the mountain Gurlita Klätt in the novel, and some might remember the chapter about the big bear on Gurlita Klätt. And when it comes to Värmland’s “national anthem” Värmlandsvisan, it is said that Anders Fryxell must have found the words to it in this very place.

Giants at 343 metres high

Tossebergsklätten rises 343 metres above sea level and you can get there on a two-kilometre “serpentine road” rising over 200 metres. Once at the top, you’ll be rewarded with a spectacular view. The name “Tossebergsklätten” suggests that in folklore there were believed to be giants and mountain people living there. “Tosse” is thought to come from an older dialect where “tusse” was giant and “toss” meant troll. The trolls and giants on Tossebergsklätten are said to be kind, so even children can be safe at the top.  

The Serpentine Road

Before a traffic road up to the top was built, goods were transported to the kiosk and café with a horse and trailer. Tourists used to come by boat on Fryken and get off at the pier in Stöpafors. They then hiked through the forest up to the mountain.  The construction of the traffic road in the 1960s resulted in a sharp increase in the number of visitors. There are about 10,000 visitors every year. But it’s not just those who want to look at a view or have a coffee. If you want to take a faster way down, the brave can contact the Solskärmarna club, hang-gliders who see Tossebergsklätten as their home mountain. Also, don’t be surprised if you come across roller skiers going up the road for training. Take it easy on the curves, you never know what you’ll come across.