Rakkestad: Hiking Trails, History and Nature

Rakkestad combines extensive hiking trails with striking viewpoints and a varied cultural history. You can focus your trip on outdoor activities or make museums, historic buildings and archaeological sites the main attractions. The experiences that interest you most are also a useful starting point when looking for a holiday apartment in Rakkestad.

Hiking between forest and viewpoints

Rakkestadfjella is Rakkestad’s largest continuous hiking area. It has more than 80 km of marked summer trails, offering an extensive network to choose from for a hiking holiday. One specific excursion is the route to Linnekleppen: it starts at the car park on National Road 124 and follows a marked 3.5 km trail with a steady ascent.

Linnekleppen is a 325 m-high, forested ridge with a fire lookout tower. On a clear day, the view from there reaches as far as Gaustadtoppen. This gives you two different hiking ideas to consider when planning your day: an extensive trail network in Rakkestadfjella and a clearly described ascent to a viewpoint. The approximately 70 km of ski trails in Rakkestadfjella add to the winter sports options; this figure is approximate.

The area around Høgnipen offers another focus. A marked route leads from Ilgutusaga via Erthevannsveien to archaeological sites. Near Høgnipen are the trapping sites Rørmyr I and II and Mellommyr, which are among Norway’s oldest trapping sites. If you are interested in archaeology, you can combine exploring these sites with hiking.

Museums and historic places

At Rakkestad Bygdetun, collections and historic architectural styles come together. The open-air museum comprises 11 buildings arranged like a farm typical of those in Østfold in the 17th and 18th centuries. It also houses approximately 3,000 museum objects, including Frederick II’s Bible from 1588. A visit therefore offers different ways to explore regional history: through the arrangement of the buildings as well as through individual exhibits.

Another historical highlight is the Hjemmefrontmuseet in Rakkestad. It displays around 4,000 objects from the Second World War, including uniforms and various weapons. Degernes has more places to discover: the restored Sandbekk Mølle was built in 1904. Its distinctive overshot waterwheel has an external diameter of 430 cm. The Lillerudlund museum grounds cover approximately 8 dekar and include three buildings around an event space.

At Høitomt husmannsplass, a friends’ association holds “A Summer’s Day at the Smallholding” on the last weekend in July every other year, in odd-numbered years. Visitors can experience something of life on a historic smallholding. Fargeriet på Fossnes was designated a cultural heritage site of Rakkestad in 1997, the Year of Cultural Heritage; visits can be arranged by contacting the owner, Iver Rustad. Rakkestad kirke is a Romanesque medieval church with a rectangular nave and a narrower, elongated chancel. It was probably built around 1200.

Active outings and getting there

The Ingaleden hiking trail runs through the Suteren area, among other places. You can fish in many lakes in Rakkestadfjella; fishing permits are available at most access points. For a different kind of activity, the go-kart track at Rudskogen Motorsenter is available for commercial hire during normal opening hours. Hiking, fishing and motorsports thus offer different options to consider when planning your trip.

National Roads 111, 22 and 124 meet in Rakkestad. There are also bus services to the towns and a few train services each day. When planning your journey and choosing a holiday apartment, these transport options can be a relevant consideration alongside the excursions you have in mind. To plan your days, you can first weigh up whether you mainly want to hike, visit historic places or combine different activities.

Mining is another part of the region’s history: Gruva's Venner aims to preserve the hundred-year history of mining in the municipality of Rakkestad from 1880 to 1980 and prepare its historical values for presentation to the general public. Other destinations include Moss, Hvaler, Eidsberg, Skiptvet, Fredrikstad, Råde and Våler. In Degernes, you can also discover the destination Degernes.

For the overarching travel overview: Østfold.