Hesten — Attraction in Senja

This is so far, one of the most beautiful trail we have ever done. Definitely a must if you are in Senja area. We went during a gloomy day with shower so its a bit muddy at the end of the loop. If its sunny, would be much better in term of hiking and scenery. The trail consists of magnificent mountain and bay scenery. The view of Segla from here is unbeatable. Definitely not an easy trail as some said but more like mild-moderate one. Took us 3.5-4hrs in total but we did a detour toward segla trail too which was so well worth it. Be careful if its wet cause it can be very muddy and slippery. On halfway up at the slit, ensure you take the RIGHT turn which makes it so much easier to get to the top. If you want easy hike, then get down on the same way. But I highly recommend go down on the otherway (making a loop) and detour a bit toward segla along the coast so you can have different/greater view of the whole area. The short downhill from the top can be rocky and slippery so be aware. Take it very slow and have a good hiking shoes for better grip. Overall, if you are in the area and can do only 1 trail, this is...

The trail to Hesten was moderately easy, with no exposed sections until the very end near the peak. The view of Segla and the Medfjorden below was magnificent, simply amazing - breathtaking. You don’t even need to go to the edge to admire it. We didn’t climb the last couple of hundred meters/feet to the top of Hesten, as it wasn’t necessary to enjoy the great surrounding views. The climb was moderately challenging but perfectly doable for us, not super sporty people. The climb required to reach Segla peak looked terrifying from there. I’m really happy we chose this trail. There is an easy and affordable parking area at the parking lot above the Fjordgård school. From there, it’s about 10-minute walk (about 700 meters/0.45 miles), through the village to reach the trail start. On a grey and cloudy early July day, it was quite quiet here, at least compared to the crowds on...

This is one of the must hikes to do in Senja. It will take less than 2 hours of moving time (+lots of time to soak in the views and take pictures). I would advice to go up the default route (a bit on the right/north side of the summit) and then come back down towards Segla. This will be about 6km and 2h with 550m elevation. Hike is not really difficult, but there is a bit of scrambling at the end near the summit.

Best time, in my option, is to do the hike in the evening. During the day Segla is backlight and just casts a shadow. In the evening the sun hits it beautifully. If you go too late (or stay long enough) for the "sunset" then Hesten will start to shadow Segla. One additional advantage doing it in the evening is that there is less flies bothering you...