Discover Mengkroken: Cycling loop and history

If you’re looking for a hotel in Mengkroken, you can plan your trip around two specific interests: the Mengkroken cycling loop and local history. Consider whether the cycling route, rated challenging, or the historical associations of particular areas will be the deciding factor for you. The wider destination of Kongsvinger offers additional, distinct history and route themes.

Planning the Mengkroken cycling loop

The Mengkroken cycling loop is 22.6 km long and has 226 metres of elevation gain. It runs over asphalt and gravel and is rated challenging. This gives you several specific criteria to consider when planning your ride: distance, elevation gain, surface and difficulty rating. The elevation gain provides another measure of the route alongside its distance; asphalt and gravel describe the surface. Check locally for the route’s current maintenance status before setting out.

Local history and distinct place associations

Øvre Mengkroken is believed to have been settled since the early 18th century. Mengkroken became the centre of the Mengkroken school district; a school and a teacher’s residence were built here in 1884. The local history therefore points to both early settlement and the area’s later importance as a school centre.

Menghagen was located in the south of the Mengkroken hamlet, on the south side of Homsjøvegen. It was uninhabited from 1900 onwards and remained uninhabited after that; it later became part of Nedre Mengkroken, Gnr. 113/5. When putting these details into context, it is worth keeping the place associations distinct: the assumed early settlement concerns Øvre Mengkroken, the school history concerns the Mengkroken school district, and Menghagen is associated with the location and its later inclusion in Nedre Mengkroken.

More history and route themes in the wider destination of Kongsvinger

Kongsvinger Fortress is a historic landmark overlooking the town and the Glomma, as well as a protected national cultural monument. It serves as a venue for art, concerts and historical interpretation; several museums tell the story of the fortress. Individual programmes vary, so check event dates if you’re interested.

The Kongsvinger Museum’s historical guided tours in Øvrebyen focus on the period from 1855 to 1905. They start at Kongsvinger Fortress and end at the Women’s Museum (Kvinnemuseet); as departure arrangements may vary, check them in advance. Another architectural landmark is Aamodtgården: this wooden building, constructed in 1801 in the Empire style, stands at the foot of the fortress, and the home of Harald and Nina Aamodt has been preserved there.

The Finnskogrunden also explores its own cultural and landscape history in the wider destination of Kongsvinger: it runs around Lake Møkeren in the municipality of Kongsvinger and follows well-trodden and less-travelled paths between Finnish settlements, crofters’ cottages, schoolrooms and hamlets. Austmarka town centre is a natural starting and ending point; the loop can also be walked in shorter stages and from different starting points. This gives you a different framework for planning your route than the Mengkroken cycling loop, which is described by distance and elevation gain.

Discover more destinations: Austmarka, Kongsvinger, Lundersæter.

Back to the main travel overview: Kongsvinger.