If I had known how beautiful the Silfar Canyon is, I wouldn’t have driven past the canyon so many times. The Silfar canyon is situated close to the village Børselv which lies approximately halfway between Ifjord and Lakselv in northern Norway. And nothing suggests that you can find such a dazzling treasure just a five-minutes-walk away from the road.
Although there is a sign next to the road, I always drove by it because the distances between localities are far in northern Norway and most of the time I just want to get as fast as possible from one town to the next. Therefore, I normally only stop for a short break to shake my legs. But this time I don’t have any time pressure and, therefore, I follow the sign curios of what I will see. After some meters on a gravel road, I come to a parking place.
There is no sign at the parking place indicating the way to the Silfar canyon. But there is only one way there anyway and it starts next to the outhouse. Some minutes after I started walking I can already hear the river Børselv and after only five minutes I reach the canyon.
The nature reservation Børselvdalen also begins at the Silfar canyon. It was opened in 2007 and comprises only 7,9 km2. The pine trees that are growing here are said to be the northernmost pine trees of Europe. Otherwise, you will find birch trees here but also the index species Myricaria germanica.
I follow the path along the canyon and after a bent I reach the most spectacular part of the gorge. Over time the river has washed away the dolomite and the canyon is up to eighty meters deep. From certain parts you really have a breathtakingly view into the canyon.
Stopping at the Silfar canyon was really worth it and it will be an obligatory stop for me in the future when travelling between Lakselv and Ifjord.
There is another parking place some kilometers further south on the Rv98 and from there you have a good overview over the nature reservation Børselvdalen. The mountain Silfarvárri (358 m) is peaking out of the flat landscape, the Silfar canyon lies just behind that mountain. There is a way to the top of Silfarvárri that I will definitely walk at one of my future trips to this region.
