Ottestad: Church Art, Emigration and Trails

Ottestad presents cultural history and landscape from two distinct perspectives: Ottestad Church is a wooden cruciform church dating from 1730, while the Ottestad Trail runs through residential areas and cultural landscapes to the shores of Lake Mjøsa. The Norwegian Emigrant Museum adds the history of Norwegian emigration and return migration. This lets you decide whether church art, emigration history or a trail through changing landscapes should be the focus of your trip.

Church Art and Emigration History

The altarpiece in Ottestad Church is a Renaissance work from the first half of the 17th century. It therefore predates the wooden cruciform church, which was built in 1730. This difference in age offers two distinct ways to explore the history of the place: the art on the altarpiece and the architecture of the church building.

The new church was built on a new site north of Nordre Ottestad and consecrated on 19 January 1731; it was named Tabor. The construction year and consecration year tell different parts of the story of its origins. Visitors interested in historic churches will therefore find more here than just a single date.

The Norwegian Emigrant Museum offers a different historical focus. As a national museum, it is dedicated to the history of Norwegian emigration and return migration. Its open-air museum depicts a Norwegian settler community in the American Midwest, with Oak Ridge Church at its centre. Together with the history of the church, this creates a broad arc: from a local place of worship to the experiences of Norwegian communities across the Atlantic.

The Ottestad Trail: Circular Route and Individual Sections

The Ottestad Trail is a 15-kilometre circular route that you can also walk in sections. Connecting paths link it to other routes. You can plan to walk the entire loop or choose a section instead of committing to the full circular route.

The trail passes through residential areas and cultural landscapes. Along the way, fields, pastureland and woodland alternate with the shore of Lake Mjøsa. This sequence lets you experience different landscapes on one outing rather than limiting yourself to a single setting.

A universally designed section runs from Åkershagan via Vikasentret and Sandvika along Lake Mjøsa to Hegsvold. These named places provide specific waypoints for this section of the trail. When considering different stages of the Ottestad Trail, you can take the length of the circular route, the changing landscapes and this section into account as different factors in your plans.

Ottestad in the Wider Destination of Stange

The wider destination of Stange has more than 500 kilometres of marked trails. The Rondanestien passes through the municipality of Stange on its route between Oslo and Hjerkinn. The national pilgrimage route, Pilegrimsleden, also runs from Oslo to Nidaros: it enters the municipality at Lysjøen and continues to Stange Church. These routes complement the clearly defined circular route in Ottestad with other trails across the wider destination.

When looking for a holiday apartment, it helps to set a simple priority: would you like to base your choice mainly on the cultural sites and trails in Ottestad, or consider the wider destination of Stange? This lets you choose your focus without conflating the circular route, the pilgrimage route and the connection between Oslo and Hjerkinn into a single route.

Discover more destinations: Stange, Espa, Tangen.

Go to the wider travel overview: Stange.