Brakstadfjellet, 318m

Mountain area : Holsnøy
Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Meland
Map : 1116-II Sæbø (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary Factor: > 250m (est.) Eldsfjellet
Hiked : Apr. 2002
Brakstadfjellet seen from Eldsfjellet

Brakstadfjellet seen from Eldsfjellet

Introduction

Brakstadfjellet is the second highest mountain on Holsnøy, 6m lower than Eldsfjellet and 1m higher than Gaustadfjellet. These are the dominating mountains on the Holsnøy peninsula.

Brakstadfjellet is easy accessible from Valde, with excellent trails to the top. The mountain offers wonderful views all around, but especially towards the Bergen mountains. Bring a binocular and see the city of Bergen from a new angle.

Trail descriptions:

Valde - Brakstadfjellet (summer/winter)

Difficulty : Low
Risk : Low
Distance :
Time : 0.5 - 1 hours to the top
Starting Elev.: Approx. 40m
Map of the area

Click for detail map

Access:

From Bergen, take highway E16/E39. At Åsane, exit left onto E39. Pass the Nordhordaland bridge and the toll gate (currently NOK 45,- for passenger cars). Immediately after the toll gate, exit right towards Holsnøy. Shortly after, you arrive a roundabout. Go straight through towards Frekkhaug. Stay on this road (highway 564) for 7,4Km and exit right towards Tveit. Follow the Tveit road 1,3Km and exit left when you see the Fløksand sign. Follow this road 1,1Km and park by a nearly burnt down garage just before a school.

The trail:

The trail begins by the garage ruins, and starts off as an old forest road. This road may be incredible muddy at first. Soon, the road moves upwards in the forest, and in a while the forest road turns into a nice forest trail. By now, you have the mountain up on your left hand side.

Continue on the forest trail until you reach a trail junction just after a gate. Take the left trail, which is marked "Brakstadfjellet". A few hundred meters later, exit left (west) onto a new trail, also marked "Brakstadfjellet". Make sure you see this sign, and don't descend on the trail you're on. From this point, the trail is marked with high sticks all the way to the top. The trail switchbacks all the way to the top, and also this part may be very muddy. On the summit you will find a summit cairn, and a building serving as a signaling station for Flesland airport traffic.

This trail should be easy to follow in winter. The forest trail is cut out of the terrain, and the high trail is well marked with sticks.

From the top, you will have great views all over Nordhordaland and towards the city of Bergen.

(Thanks to Jan Kåre Aasebø who did this hike with his wife later on, verified the description given here, and provided additional useful information)

Trip report Apr 28 2002:

I had been saving this modest height mountain for a rainy day. So what was I doing here on this beautiful Sunday evening? Due to a jetleg after a recent U.S trip, I awoke 2:30PM, and realized I had blown a perfect day for a higher mountain. So I decided to do a triple mountain (4 including a spur) hike, consisting of Eldsfjellet (I needed the pictures), Brakstadfjellet (a new mountain) and Ulriken (for the statistics and to get 1000m vertical meters that day).

So after a hasty visit on Eldsfjellet, I was on my way up Brakstadfjellet. I was torn between agony on spending the evening on modest height mountains, and joy over the wonderful views the mountain offered. Nothing much to say about the hike itself. I was back at the car 1 hour after I left it, moving quick and efficient up the mountain. The regular hiker would probably use close to the hour up the mountain. But I was in a hurry to get Ulriken before sunset.

Pictures from the Apr 28 2002 hike:

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format

Brakstadfjellet seen from the highway (137KB) The trailhead (203KB) On the forest trail (144KB) On the forest trail (152KB) View towards Bergen from the summit (124KB) View towards Bergen from the summit (200KB) Brakstadfjellet summit (205KB) Gaustadfjellet seen from the summit (278KB) The odd building on top (211KB) Eldsfjellet seen from the summit (147KB) View down to the trailhead at Valde (148KB) Austlendingen seen from the summit (162KB)

Pictures from other hikes:

Holsnoy in Nordhordland (140KB) North view (zoom) from Loevstakken (399KB) Coast view from Horgi (685KB) North view from Herlandsfjellet (215KB) Holsnoy mountains seen from Askoy (795KB) View from above Turnerhytten (668KB) Bergen seen from Løvstakken (530KB)


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