Láhko National Park

Up on Glomfjellet, east of Glomfjord, the ground looks like no other mountain in Norway. Láhko is the country's largest continuous area of alpine karst: soft limestone and marble that rain and meltwater have been dissolving since the ice left. Streams sink into cracks and run on underground, there are natural stone bridges and caves, and some big boulders sit on small pedestals as if they were floating. Look closely and you'll find shapes locals call stone hearts and snakes. The name is Lule Sámi for a high, wide plateau, and that fits. Most of the park lies above the tree line, between Meløy, Gildeskål and Beiarn, and the highest point is Nordre Glomvassfjellet, 1.305 m, where Láhko meets Saltfjellet-Svartisen National Park. The 188 km² park was created in December 2012. The lime also feeds more than 200 plant species, and reindeer graze here in summer.

Local knowledge: in the 1950s the French geomorphologist Jean Corbel wrote about these heights as a closed, hostile world, always in fog or snowstorms, full of bleached bones and with “three thousand gaping chasms”. He called the plateau Navnløsfjell, “the mountain that lost its name”. His words were enough to send a Cambridge caving expedition north in 1961. When they got here, the power station in Glomfjord lent them a boat and a hut with electric heating, and most of Corbel's deep shafts turned out to be shallow cracks. They still explored three caves of about 400 metres each, in water barely above freezing. The local hunting and fishing club from Glomfjord has been coming up here since 1930.

Visiting: on Fv17 (Kystriksvegen), turn off between the Svartisen and Fykan tunnels and follow the construction road from Fykan up the mountain. The pin is the car park by Namnlausvatnet, where most trails start. From here a marked trail runs about 4,6 km one way to Corbel's Canyon and the Corbel bridge, the best-known sights: first along the path for about 1,1 km, then north through Fiskvasskaret and along the north side of Svalvatnet. Stay on the marked trails, as boots quickly wear down the fragile formations, and leave the caves to equipped cavers. More on the park's official page. Nearby in our guide: Svartisen Glacier – Engabreen and Austerdalsisen.