A Quick Stop in Skjånes, the Last Stop on Nordkyn’s Fv264

Post Overview: This guide is a recap of my drive out to Skjånes, a small village at the end of a road on Norway’s Nordkyn peninsula. It talks about what there is to do there, as well as where to stay.

One thing I love about traveling is checking out a map before a trip and getting a rough idea of an itinerary in my mind… and then showing up and realizing just how impractical that idea actually was.

This happens to me a lot in Norway as I tend to gravitate toward places that look a bit more remote and once I arrive, I realize that the ‘road’ I saw on a map is actually a dirt road or one that is no longer even accessible. Needless to say, I do extremely surface-level research.

A place that I had recently done this with was Skjånes, a small fishing village at the end of a road on Nordkyn. It was a populated village, but I didn’t know much more about it. Fortunately, there was a functional road out that way and even though its condition was questionable at times, it was an easy detour for a few hours.

Skjånes (Skeavvonjárga in Sámi) is situated in Gamvik Kommune on Hopsfjorden (which extends off the Tanafjord). Around 80 people live there, and the main industry is (surprise, surprise) fishing. In the village, you’ll find a school, a church, and a small Coop Marked.

A lot of the villages I visited on Nordkyn seemed sleepy, but Skjånes didn’t. I visited on a weekday during the middle of the day and a lot of people were working and hanging out around the Coop (open M-F from 11am until 4pm and Saturday from 11am until 1pm).

How to Get to Skjånes

Getting to Skjånes is half the fun, on the other hand! The road wasn’t in great condition (but wasn’t so bad, either), but there were a few places to stop along the way that offered some pretty views over the Hopsfjord.

You’ll pass three other settlements, Ivarsfjord, Langnes, and Kobbevik, along the way, as well as a small islet called Torvholmen, which seemed to be home to quite a few seabirds.

Before turning onto the Fv264 (the road that takes you all the way to Skjånes, you can stop at the Hopseidet rest area. There are toilets, picnic tables, and a small WWII memorial to six weaponless fishermen who perished in May of 1945.

The memorial is well-kept and surrounded by a beautiful garden, so I highly recommend stopping and paying respects quickly before continuing your journey.

If you are heading toward Skjånes in winter, you will need to join a convoy if the weather closes the road. The convoy (kolonnekjøring) will be picked up at Hopseidet and you’ll need to join one to get there from Bekkarfjord.

Here are the kolonnekjøring timetables from Bekkarfjord and further onto Skjånes:

• 6:30am (except on Sundays)
• 10am
• 1:45pm
• 4pm
• 7pm
• 9pm

This convoy takes about 1 hour and you will need to make sure you get off at Hopseidet as it will continue another 30 minutes onto Mehamn. The convoy timetable from Hopseidet to Skjånes is as follows:

• 7:30am (except on Sundays)
• 9:45am
• 1:30pm
• 6pm
• 12:15am

And the convoy times going from Skjånes back to Hopseidet are as follows:

• 8:15am (except on Sundays)
• 10:30am
• 2:30pm
• 4:30pm
• 7:30pm

You can see all of this information here, where you can plan your trip accordingly. Just know that in winter, this is going to take quite a few hours, depending on the direction you are going in.

If you are driving this route, please be aware that reindeer are all over the place!

That goes for the Nordkyn Peninsula as a whole, but this route definitely has quite a few roaming about. I encountered a lot around Breivik as I was wrapping around the water over to Skjånes.

Hiking in Skjånes

Another point of interest in Skjånes is the loop trail to abandoned Kjeskelvik. The Nordkyn Peninsula is littered with abandoned villages and places not connected by road and Kjeskelvik is one of them. It has been abandoned since 1961.

The trailhead parking lot is by Hop Church in Skjånes (toward Ytre Hop). If you go to the end of the stone fence, you will see the sign for it. There is a short path along the sea until you reach the Bjørnelva (a river), where you’ll start the loop part of the trail. You can read more about it on Perletur’s website.

The trail is moderately hard and around 8.1 km (around 5 miles). It should take about 4 hours in total and is best from May until October. In August, the trail will be brimming with cloudberries, crowberries, and blueberries. Makes for a good hiking snack! There are also plenty of reindeer roaming the area.

Hope you enjoyed this little trip to Skjånes, and if you find yourself on the Nordkyn Peninsula, do plan a little bit of time to stop by! The views on the drive are worth it just as much as the cute little village is!

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