Vårstigen

Until around 1710, the mountain lodge stood in this area used to be called Hullet. Nowadays it is refered to as Gammelholet.

This verse was on a sign at Hullet in 1704:
"When others must seek
in heat and cold to find a hole,
then thank the farmer,
if only he could,
for warmth and cold
find space in his hole."

After a landslide, the mountain lodge was moved south to its current location and was named Kongsvolden. This name is linked to King Frederik IV. North from here, the valley narrows, and when the river was high, such as in spring floods, it was impassable down through Drivdalen. They had to go up the slope and use Vårstigen to continue. The terrain is steep and rocky, which made Vårstigen both well-known and notorious. In 1704, major work was done on the road to make it passable by cart. King Frederik IV was to travel over Dovrefjell with a large entourage. Thus, Vårstigen served as part of the main road between southern and northern Norway until the 1850s, but by the end, it was described as "the worst main road section in the entire kingdom."

A mile and a half north of Gammelholet, there is a legend about "Trollkjerkja" (the Troll Church), a large rock with a tall peak close to E6 – so close that it was likely the name and legend that saved it from blasting when the road was expanded a few years ago. One version of the legend goes like this, in short form:
After Christianizing Trøndelag, Saint Olaf and his men were traveling through Drivdalen. In the valley behind Drivkollen, the giant Sjog lived, and he sent a terrible snowstorm against the king's party.
The king made the sign of the cross against the snowstorm and said: "You may be a 'driv'dal' (snowstorm), but from now on, you will not drive against us, but with us." This is the origin of the name Drivdalen. But Sjog in the mountain ridge became furious and threw two large boulders down at the king and his men. When King Olaf raised his arm, the boulders slowly fell down, and the king and his men passed unhindered over the mountain. But Sjog turned to stone. After his great snow-covered cape, the ridge he sat on got the name Snøhetta. When they reached Dovrefjell, between Hjerkinnhø and Skriuhø, the king turned, looked down into Drivdalen, and prophesied: "Where we are going now, there will one day be a road so wide that eight horses can run side by side. Many kings will travel this road."

At the slate quarries 16 kilometers further north in the valley, we find "Sankt-Olabergie." There are marks in the steep mountain wall left by horses' hooves from that time. Today, the road traffic through the valley is too heavy for pilgrims to walk it. Therefore, we take Vårstigen up to the mountain and follow the old pilgrim's route along Elgsjøtangen and down through Vinstradalen. We can read about Vårstigen on signs along the road. From Tingsvaet in the south of Vårstigen, there are good chances of seeing musk oxen on the west side of Drivdalen.