Vermafossen

Vermafossen is without a doubt the biggest waterfall in the Romsdalen (Rauma) and is located near Verma and Kylingbrua, 37 kilometer south of Åndalsnes in the region More og Romsdal, Norway.

Driving from Andalsnes to Dombas (E136), through the Romsdalen, first you drive by several tall waterfalls near Flatmark, but not to powerful. Driving further south you will see Vermafossen at the right side of the road, the most famous waterfall in Romsdalen (Rauma).

Vermafossen-bridgeIt is hard to value Vermafossen because the river Verma plunges down, over 381 meter, dividing itself in three separate streams with a lot of trees inc between. Only if you look closer you will see how powerful Vermafossen actually is.

On the picture left you also a bridge where the train to Åndalsnes runs over. The picture would be perfect with the train on the bridge, but unfortunately I missed the moment when I visited Vermafossen July 2017.

You can see Vermafossen from several viewpoint but I liked the first one most, standing along the road, just in front of Vermafossen (at a small bus stop). I also drove down towards the river but that wasn’t a success. There were construction activities and I couldn’t get very much nearer to Vermafossen. Actually the best view is from the train, Åndalsnes to Bjorli, when the train speeds down at the waterfall.

Because of the weather forecast I didn’t want to spend to much time with walking towards Vermafossen, but this is possible. Because there is no parking the trail starts at the Grocery store in Verma (also the parking for Kyllingbrua). You have to walk back until you see a path going down at the other side of the road. Walk down but keep left and cross the river Rauma. The road goes up to the hamlet Sletta. When you cross the railway go right and walk towards Vermafossen. The walk takes appr. 60 minutes (2,5 km).

Vermafossen is fed by melted snow from several high mountains around the Vermadalen. There are also some small (unnamed) glaciers and several lakes. The biggest lake is Vermevatnet (1.1.86m) draining the river Verma.

Vermafossen-1890Vermafossen is a regulated waterfall (since 1923) but has enough capacity left to be my favorite waterfall in the Romsdalen. But…I have also seen pictures (taken in August) where Vermafossen is almost dried out. Best time to visit Vermafossen is late spring, early summer (in the morning). I like the picture right taken by Axel Lindahl somewhere near 1890.

Nearby you can find Kyllingbrua (Norwegian), a famous stone bridge on the track Raumabanen. The bridge is built from 1913-1922 with stones from the mountains nearby. The bridge is 76 meter tall and a guarantee for a nice picture from the viewpoint with two waterfalls in the background. From the supermarket you walk down on a signed trail to the viewpoint (5 minutes).

Kyllingbrua, StorsteinbitenfossenI also walked to the other side of the Kyllingbrua to check out the two waterfalls falling into the Rauma river. These where difficult to reach. I only had a good shot from the side of the bridge.

I think the waterfall is called Storsteinbitterfossen???

You also can visit the other waterfalls in the Romsdalen (Rauma). When driving from Andalsnes to Dombas (road E136):
Olmaafossen (1th waterfall on the right, one of the highest waterfall in the world)
Mongefossen (2nd waterfall at the left side, but is regulated and probably not visible)
Rangaafossen (3th waterfall at the left side, but is regulated and probably not visible)
Brurasløret,(4th waterfall at the left side, nice to see together with Gravdefossen)
Gravdefossen (5th waterfall at the left side and the most impressive waterfall)
Døntefossen
 (6th waterfall at the right side, beautiful with river in foreground)
Skokagrovafossen (7th waterfall at the left side, nice if you are standing near the waterfall)
Vermafossen.(8th waterfall at the right side, much bigger then it looks like)
Kylingbruafossen (9th waterfall(s) at the right side, close to Kyling bridge, unnamed but beautiful)
Slettafossen (10th waterfall at the right side, extremely powerful waterfall in the river Rauma close to Vermafossen)
Then there are still dozens of low volume waterfall not considered as a waterfall.

MardalsfossenNot far from Romsdalen (Rauma) you can also drive into the Eikesdalen with the enormous Mardalsfossen. A tourist attraction, but the waterfalls are very impressive to see and the walk to the base of Mardalsfossen is very pleasant. Anyway Eikesdalen is a valley with many big waterfalls and is a visit worthwhile. There is a nice campingsite in Eikesdal, a perfect base to explore the area.

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About Vermafossen

CountryNorway
RegionMøre og Romsdal
LocationVerma, Romsdalen (Rauma)
RiverVerma
Height381m
Latitude62.34799
Longitude8.0431
Best visitLate spring, early summer
Rating

Most nearby waterfalls

WaterfallDistance (linear)Rating
Slettafossen 5 km
Døntefossen 7 km
Gravdefossen 8 km
Brurasloret (Flatmark) 8 km
Brufossen (Rauma) 9 km