The Child Wanderes Trail in southern Norway (part 1)

In southern Norway there is a walking trail called The Child Wanderers Trail. It has a length of 136 kilometers and stretches across 9 municipalities from Kvinesdal in the west to Landvik near Grimstad in the east. All of these municipalities have worked together to mark the whole trail making it easy to follow. The trail was walked by children who in the 19th century walked left their homes in the western part of the country, to walk the long way to the east. The children started these walks in the spring and walked all the way back again in October. They did this long walk to work on the larger farms in the east. Because of poverty their families needed them to leave home to work.

The whole route is marked with signs or blue paint on poles and rocks. The whole route is divided into seven sections. Last year I completed the two first sections together with a friend. In mid-May this year we continued with the next two sections. This is then the third section. This section runs from Konsmo to Laudal and is 11 kilometers. We did this part in the oposite direction, because we would be able to be picked up in Konsmo.

Most of the trail follows the road. But occasional the trail took us through forest and farmland. Some of the children who did this long walk were as young as 6-7 years. It must have been hard. They had to cross mountains and rivers. At that time there were bears and wolves they could encounter.

Resting on the stone. Foto: Tone Steinsland

Almost at Konsmo. At this stone there is a sign saying that it's called the «resting stone». If we had walked in the opposite direction, we would have started with a steep uphill. It was therefore a good idea to have a rock to rest on. We ended our tour at the church.

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