Sandsfossen
Sandsfossen is a powerful and wide waterfall near the city center of Sand (Suldal) in the region Rogaland, Norway. This part of Norway is also called Ryfylke.
From road 13 drive to Sand and keep following road Rv46 into Sand. Beyond the Shell gasstation and bridge there is a sign “viewpoint”, direction to the left (Postvegen). After a few hundred meter you will see several cars parked near the “Laksestudio”. Laksestudio means salmon nursery.
Here you already see the powerful river Suldalslågen thundering down over 5 meter. It is always nice to hear and feel the power of water. Suldalsfossen is a waterfall where you can experience both. Access and viewing the waterfall is free for admission but if you want to walk downstream along the river you have to enter the Laksestudio. For this Salmon nursery small admission is required. More information about the Laksestudio can be found on the website of Suldal.
Sandsfossen isn’t a very high waterfall (appr 5 meter) but with an average volume of 55.000-72.000 liter/second, in summertime regulated but still a very powerful waterfall. The river Suldalslågen finds it origin in the Suldalsvatnet and is 22 kilometer long. In summertime the lake is fed with a huge amount of melted snow from the mountain plateaus around Suldalsvatnet. Suldalslågen has a natural watershed of 1.463 km2, of which 75% is above the timber line, making it western Norway’s largest river system.
We visited Sandsfossen summertime 2016 and the volume was 80.500 l/sec, a higher volume then teh average displayed on the information board.
Nearby you also can visit a nice piece of architecture, Høsebrua, a pedestrian bridge over the river Suldalslågen illuminated by night. Høsebrua is designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects and was finished in 2012.
Sand is a nice little town, a visit worthwhile. It also can be a perfect base for exploring the area. One of my favorite roads in Norway is the part from Sauda to Roldal (Rv 520). There are also two big waterfall along road Rv520 just before Sauda, along the Saudafjorden: Hangandvikfossen (Brudesløret) and Svandalsfossen.