Jutulholet

Useful Information

Location:	6697 Vihals. (63.3739484, 8.5357317)
Open:	no restrictions. [2025]
Fee:	free. [2025]
Classification:	Sea Cave Frost Weathering Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Jutulholet, Skardsøya, 6690 Aure, Tel: +47-71-64-74-00. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Jutulholet (Giant Cave) is once again a fossil sea cave, which are quite common in Norway. When the 3.5 km thick glaciers covered Scandinavia, the crust was pressed into the upper mantle, and when the glaciers melted at the end of the last cold age, the sea water created sea caves at the coast. But now the weight of the ice was missing and the crust started to move upwards. So the sea cave is today located about 50 m higher than the sea level. And another quite typical thing happened, the rock in the entrance section was further eroded by frost weathering. The effect is strongest at the cliff face and decreases inside the cave, so there is a massive dam of debris, small and huge rocks which have fallen from the cliff face.

Jutulholet was named after a legendary giant, giant is Jutul in Norwegian, who tried to destroy the church in Aure. According to legend he lived in this giant cave.

The cave is best reached from the Stützpunkt Melland, a German fort or bunker from World War II. It offers parking, and it’s a 30 minutes hike to the cave, the trail is marked red.