Øyer municipality in Lillehammer region

About Øyer municipality

The municipality of Øyer is made up of two parishes, Øyer and Tretten. On 1 October 2017 there were 5,149 people living in the municipality (Statistics Norway). Total area is about 640 square kilometres, of which about 20 square kilometres is water. Øyer has a great deal of agriculture and forestry. Other industries, especially those that stem from the agriculture resources, have become ever more important in recent years. And of course the tourist industry is well placed to make use of our wonderful natural resources.

In Oppland, Øyer is bordered by Ringebu municipality to the north, Ringsaker to the southeast, and Lillehammer to the south. To the east lies Stor-Elvdal municipality (located in Hedmark county). The municipality is h2ided in two parishes: Øyer in the south and Tretten in the north.

Øyer is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingberg.

The parish of Øier was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. It is one of very few municipalities in Norway with unchanged borders since that date.

Øyer mountains

The mountains have always been very special to Øyer. In the 1960s large areas of mountain terrain were opened up for agriculture. This led to about a third of all our cultivated land being up in the mountains.

The Øyerfjell mountains are to the east of Gudbrandsdal and border on Lillehammer and Ringsaker to the south, Ringebu to the north and Stor-Elvdal to the east. Øyerfjell is a nationally owned open area, managed by a committee in Øyer. Its area is about 430,000 decares, of which almost half is bare mountain. The highest point in Øyerfjell is Eldåhøgda at 1,234 metres above sea level. Most of the area is between 850 and 1,000 metres above sea level. This is mainly a gentle moorland landscape with marshes and birch forest.

Tourism in the municipality

Tourism development really took off at the time of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994. Hafjell Alpine Ski Centre has formed the basis of an extensive development of accommodation of all kinds in the southern part of the area. Øyer Gjestegård (now Hafjell Hotell) was the first to be established as part of this tourism development in the area.

Hotels, apartments, large cabins and many private cabins have all been built since. There are currently about 8,000 commercial and 5,500 private beds.

What is special about the Hafjell area is that we have added summer attractions, such as Lilleputthammer, Lekeland Hafjell and Hafjell Bike Park. Other attractions, such as Hunderfossen and Barnas Gård are nearby. The town of Lillehammer is only 15 km from Hafjell.