{"id":39171,"date":"2026-06-11T16:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/?p=39171"},"modified":"2026-06-11T17:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T17:25:10","slug":"national-gravel-route-5-fonhusruta-rider-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/national-gravel-route-5-fonhusruta-rider-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"National Gravel Route 5: F\u00f8nhusruta – Rider Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, Matteo contacted Cycle Norway looking for ways to contribute to the platform. Rather than simply sharing ideas, he headed out and rode the first section of Route Nationale Gravel 5<\/a> for himself. What makes this even more impressive is that it was Matteo’s first-ever bikepacking trip. After completing the route, he put together detailed field notes covering the terrain, highlights, challenges, and practical information that future riders may find useful. He kindly shared these with us, and we’re delighted to publish them below. A big thank you to Matteo for taking the initiative and helping grow the knowledge base surrounding Norway’s National Gravel Routes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text and Photos by Matteo Kozlowski 29\/05\/2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover photo by Knut Myking<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The route is about 260km from Oslo with a solid elevation gain and some challenging gravel climbs that require good physical condition. I did the route over the weekend, starting on Friday evening and taking the train back to Oslo from \u00c5l on Sunday afternoon. Here, I come back to the highlights of the route and try to describe it precisely to give you an idea of what to expect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1: Oslo \u2013 Myrsetra DNT, nice and easy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left Oslo in the evening and headed up to Nordmarka to reach my first objective of the trip.The route is straightforward without any difficulty. I chose to reroute slightly to avoid being directly along the Lysakerelva which remains very technical and isn\u2019t necessarily interesting. After that, you\u2019ll get on a mix of nice gravel routes and asphalt to exit B\u00e6rum before hitting a nice stretch into the woods until the cabin. A first chill day around 40km just to get out of the city and exploit the Friday evening!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Myrsetra DNT cabin, a great first stopping point!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Section 1: Oslo – \u00c5l<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Day 2: Myrsetra DNT \u2013 F\u00f8nhusskoia DNT, things get tougher<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day begins by a nice gravel track that starts heading back down towards H\u00f8nefoss aftera few kilometers. The descent is fast and fun. It started raining there so I chose to take a break at XXL, Extra and Burger King to get some equipment and carb up for the rest of the day. H\u00f8nefoss is a good place to get stuff as it is the last actual town before Gol the day after. Since I had no time constraint, I decided to go with the weather and waited one and a half hours before making my way further up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first big gravel climb arrived outside of the city. After it, the track ends by a DNT cabin where you will need to walk on a single woody-rocky trail for at least 30 minutes. You get back on a nice gravel road if you stay on track so don\u2019t worry, it just takes a little longer! After that, you\u2019ll enjoy nice forest gravel roads and get a good section on asphalt before reaching Buvatnet where the serious stuff begins. After crossing a river to get on the other side of the valley, you\u2019ll hit a major steep climb on a sandy track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View of Buvatnet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nice gravel track<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next challenging climb occurs around 12 km later. Not as long but very steep. You\u2019ll get a nice view of the Aurd\u00f8la river on the top. Further up, crossing the river can take a little time depending on the season and on the water level. Mid may, the flow was intense, and I had to navigate between trees to reach the different bridges. Afterwards, a nice stretch will take along multiple lakes. The track gets rougher by the end and stops to start another great session of bike pushing! This part can feel frustrating since you\u2019re so close to the next cabin but walking on the technical trails takes so long! It was around 2 km of navigating in the swamps and the rocks but it\u2019s doable! Finally, the last gravel climb of the day will take you to F\u00f8nhusskoia where I spent my last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Navigating along the river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Terrace of the cabin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 3: F\u00f8nhusskoia DNT \u2013 \u00c5l stasjon, Up and down<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started my last day around 9am to make sure I\u2019d have time to catch the train in \u00c5l. The day begins on a rough trail that quickly turns into nicer gravel roads. The only technical part of the day arrives around 10km after the start. A nice and swampy single track of 2km before getting back on gravel highways. From there, just enjoy the view of the plateau before hitting a massive drop down to Gol. From there, it\u2019s only an extra one and a half hours until \u00c5l and a good spot to take a break. The last stretch of about 30km alternates between asphalt and gravel and is pretty fun! I made it an hour early for the train and even got to rinse my bike in a nice, retired couple\u2019s backyard!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The trail becomes a hiking path on the technical section <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u00c5l train station waiting for us<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Summary and practical remarks
<\/strong>
This route requires some decent biking skills and fitness. Yet, it remains very doable and takes you through remote and gorgeous spots. The second day was \u201conly\u201d 132km, but the walking sections add up a lot of time. Make sure to pack enough food, as you will not find much between H\u00f8nefoss and Gol. There is, however, water along the way with the multiple rivers, brooks and lakes you\u2019ll cycle into. You can continue the trip up to the National Gravel Route 5 section 2, where a loop – \u00c5l – Hemsedal – Gol – \u00c5l can be ridden in late June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, visit: https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/en\/national-gravel-routes\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Gravel Route 5: F\u00f8nhusruta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A few weeks ago, Matteo contacted Cycle Norway looking for ways to contribute to the platform. Rather than simply sharing ideas, he headed out and rode the first section of National Gravel Route 5 for himself. What makes this even more impressive is that it was Matteo’s first-ever bikepacking trip. After completing the route, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,19,36,135],"class_list":["post-39171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-bikepacking","tag-featured","tag-gravel","tag-national-gravel-routes"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39171"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39194,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39171\/revisions\/39194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyclenorway.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}