Masfjorden municipality in Norway has approximately 1.700 inhabitants and covers a area of 556,5 km2. The coastline is approximately 14 km with 190 islands. Drive alongside the winding Austfjord on the road to Masfjordnes, the administrative centre of the municipality of Masfjorden. At Dyrdal you will find the farm food outlet Dyrdal Gardsmat, whose “Magnhild´s suasages” are renowned far beyond the boundaries of Nordhordland. The meeting place for commerce is at Nordbygda approximately 10 minutes with the cable ferry. The ferry takes you from Masfjordnes to Duesund in seven minutes. The only cable ferry in Norway, it takes 20 cars and 60 passengers. Masfjorden is a fjord in Masfjorden municipality in Hordaland. The fjord is a branch of Fensfjorden and has a northern extension. It divides into Haugsværfjord and Matrefjord. Length including Matrefjord is about 24 km and width varies from 500 meter to 1500 meter. Highway 570 crosses the bay via ferry connection Masfjordnes – Duesund. The connection is busy with a cable ferry.
The municipality highest mountain is Årdalsryggen 1047 meters and Stordalseggi 1044 meters. The muncipality is a eldorado for people who like the great outdoors. The fjord has been chosen as Masfjorden´s millennium site. The fjord binds the municipality together and through its choice of millennium site Masfjorden has chosen to focus on “modern day meeting places”.
The main attractions are the Bjørn West-museet, Trodalcollection, Kvamsdals Dyehouse, Sandnes not- and seacollection, Schoolmuseum, Mollandseid Mill, Matreøy Husmannsplass, Storsetehilleren and Old Hommelfossen Powerplant.
KVAMDALS DYEHOUSE
Just before Masfjordnes, was a dyeworks from 1889 until 1954. Shows how a small industrial enterprise for dying and handling of cloth and yarn was built up and run. Complete with equipment and tools. New documentation video.
BJØRN WEST MUSEUM
The museum owes its name to a Norwegian guerrilla group which had its headquarters in the hills around Matre at the end of the second world war, while Norway was occupied by the Germans. The group should operate behind German lines in the event of an allied invasion. At the end of the war, the group numbered 259 soldiers.
The establishment of such a guerrilla base was a dangerous gamble. As the crow flies, it was situated only 50-60 km from Bergen and it was imperative that the Germans remained ignorant of its existence for as long as possible. In the last weeks of the war, however, the base was attaced by superior enemy forces and came under fierce fire. Bjoern West retreated following orders from London and kept low until peace was declared on 8 May 1945.
The story of Bjoern West is an interesting, dramatic and exciting piece of Norway’s war history which the museum preserves and conveys. It has a fine collection of authentic weapons and artillery and gives an impression of the conditions under which the soldiers lived: hard toil, snow-storms, rain, old, friendship and amazing fighting spirit.
TRODAL FARM MUSEUM
Trodal Farm Museum, which contains living quarters in the East Norwegian style dating from the 1820s and has a collection of 700 implements and artefacts from the farm in Trodalen: agricultural implements, equipment used in forestry and in the mountain pasture farms, household articles and much more. The first floor contains a media room displaying old newspaper cuttings from Liberation Day in 1945.
SWIMING
Areklettsanden
Lovely sandy beach with long shallows. WC.
Sandnesvika
Lovely beach with sandy seabed. WC.
Stordalen in Masfjorden is the starting point of a well-developed network of tracks and cabins in the Stølsheimen mountains. You can spend several days walking or skiing from cabin to cabin. Most cabins have groceries for sale. A walking/skiing map of the whole Stølsheimen is available at bookshops or the Tourist Information Office in Knarvik.
More than 400-year-old road, starting from Haukeland or Kjetland farms approximately 6 km there and back.
FISHING
Hunting and fishing is very popular in Masfjorden, and the Matreelva river abounds in sea trout. There are also good opportunities to hunt small game.
GOLF
Golfclubs in Hordaland.