Årdalen is a beautiful wilderness area with many nice spots for the flyfisher. The trout is mostly small sized, but it's not the fish itself that is important here, it's the beautiful scenery you fish in.

This is not a mountain area, but there was still some snow spots left when I was here in May 2000. The water temperature was only 4-5^oC at this time, but the fish took the dry fly anyway. The best time for catching trout will be in June and July, but the area is worth a visit in the spring too.

 

There is to easy ways to get into Årdalen. The first option is to go from Dale. This is the recommended port because you then will pass the beautiful "Rjukanfossen" (see pict 500 kb) after about 1 hour walking. When you have passed this waterfall you are in the Årdalen wilderness reservat.
The second option is to take the small road across the mountain from Bygland that leads to the upper part of this area. This is also a great place to start if you want to go hiking in the northern part of Tovdalselva . See the 1:50000 map named Bygland for details about Årdalen, which covers the whole area.

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