Route description:
This is a great walk in the local area around Tonstad. In total it is a 5.1 km circular route, but it can just as easily be divided into three stages: Bjønndalen, Trodledalen and from Øyghedlar to Bjønndalen via Smihedlar. There is quite a bit of an ascent if you do the whole walk. There is good signposting along the entire route.

From the car park in Bekkjedalen, the walk follows several forestry tracks and a path through Bjønndalen to Storemyr. From here it is a short distance down to the road at Tjomlid. Bjønndalen is a wide, forested valley with Scots pine and spruce plantations. In the sheltered valley sides, many types of thermophilic deciduous forest grow. It is also one of the few places in Sirdal where yew grows.

From Storemyr you can continue down Trodledalen to Øyghedlar. Here the walk goes through a narrower valley in close contact with nature. This section follows a path, but apart from one steeper slope it is easy to walk down here. There is also a good car park here and the walk could just as well start here. This part of the walk can also be done as part of the «Selandsrunden» trail, in which case you get to swap tarmac for a forest walk.

From Øyghedlar it goes steeply up the hillside on the forestry road that winds towards the summit. From there, a new path goes past Smihedlar and back to Bjønndalen a little above where we started.

Cultural heritage sites:
Smithereens

Rating: Medium
Length: 10.2 km (return)
Ascent: 367 m