It is Norway's largest national park. It spans from Numedal and Uvdalin the east and R�velseggi and Ullensvang in the west across the Hardanger mountain plateau (Hardangervidda). Designated as a national park in 1981, today it serves as a popular tourist destination for activities such as hiking, climbing, fishing, and cross-country skiing. The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) maintains a comprehensive network of huts and paths across Hardangervidda. The Bergensbanen railway line and the main Highway 7 cross the plateau.
It has the southernmost stock of several arctic animals and plants. Its wild reindeer herds are among the largest in the world.
Several hundred nomadic stone age settlements have been found in the area, most likely related to the migration of the reindeer. Ancient trails cross the plateau, linking western and eastern Norway; one example is the Nordmannsslepa linking Eidfjord and Veggli in the Numedal valley with Hol and Uvdal.
The name Hardangervidda is put together by the name of the district Hardanger and the finite form of vidde, 'wide plain, large mountain plateau'.
The whole of the Hardangervidda is above the tree line. Its alpine climate enables the presence of many species of arctic animals and plants further south than anywhere else in Europe. Its wild reindeer herds are among the largest in the world, with some 15,000 animals recorded in 1996 and around 8,000 in 2008. They migrate across the plateau during the year, moving from their winter grazing lands on the east side of the Hardangervidda, where they graze on lichen, to their breeding grounds in the more fertile west of the plateau.
The varying climate of the plateau has a marked effect on the flora, which is richer on the wetter west side than in the drier east; much of the plateau is covered by coarse grasses,mosses (especially sphagnum) and lichens.
In the Holocene climatic optimum (stone age) 9000 � 5000 years
