One of my favourite parts of my PhD journey is fieldwork. Being outside in nature and enjoying what we mean when we write about outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. To truly experience a break from the daily humdrum to spend time in nature.
My project centers around soundscape tourism – focusing on the environmental sounds in National Park areas and studying how these sounds are perceived by visitors to the parks.
One of the National Parks in which I have done my fieldwork is Femundsmarka National Park (FNP) in Norway. Conversing with the visitors there truly highlights how special the place is. This place is visited continually by the same visitors because once you go to Femundsmarka, you are guaranteed to go back again. The fairytale magic of the place settles in one’s bones and becomes part of you. The remote nature and quiet sounds of Femundsmarka allows one to escape the “clangs, bangs, rattlin’ brain of the city” (Farley, 2021).
I have been to FNP 4 times. The first time I visited was shortly after my arrival in Norway and the second time was after I had spent a year living in the country. I saw these visits to Femundsmarka as bookends to my first year in Norway. A good point in time to reflect on all that has changed since I last visited FNP. I had learned a lot about my field, attended conferences and workshops, met interesting people and mapped the course of my project.
In spring and summer one enters FNP by boat. This boat took me from Synnervika to Røa. The Fæmund II boat has been running the same route (zigzag across Femunden lake) since 1905, so one is welcomed to the area with a historic boat ride (Femund, 2024). Fæmund II was taken into use in 1905 as a timber towing steel ship. Over the years the ship was no longer used for timber towing and goods transportation, and the boat was rebuilt in 1980 to serve its current purpose of ferrying people across the lake (Femund, 2024). According to the FNP manager, Sindre Kolstad Valan, the records showing the number of people that make use of the boat serve as an additional form of visitor monitoring for the National Park.
When you get off the boat at Røa and the sound of the boat fades into the background, you begin to hear the composition of this place. My mind almost seems to slow down and focus as I take in the sounds, sights and smells around me. Swirling symphonies of wind articulated by lapping waves accompanying the birdsong melodies filling my awareness with a sweet calm. I experience the words of the poem “Silence Speaks” by Justin Farley:
Silence comes swiftly
with the sudden breeze
quietly untangling the mind
and piercing the restless heart.
(Farley, 2021)
The beauty of this place is loud and imposing but it can also be as soft as a whisper. The forest, mountains, and wide expanse all demand your attention, but when you take the time to look you will see the smallest little bits of moss and small mushrooms. This contributes to the fairytale quality of the place, where small magical wonders are waiting to be discovered. The sounds to be heard in this place are also equally loud and soft. The wind, which can be so loud that it takes over your senses and the smallest sound of a distant woodpecker softly commanding your attention.
As part of the project “Sounds like Norway” led by Dr. Rose Keller (NINA), we placed sound recorders along the route from Røa to the Røvollen DNT (The Norwegian Trekking Association) cabin and up to Røvoltjønnan. These record environmental sounds, and the recordings make it possible to analyse the quality of the natural soundscape of the National Parks. These also serve as a comparative element to the visitor surveys. We can compare the recordings to the locations and time stamps noted on the surveys. The surveys we do at Femundsmarka revolve around how visitors appreciate the soundscape, how connected visitors feel to nature as mediated by the soundscape, how visitors experience aircraft sounds as part of their visit and whether the soundscape inspires visitors with a sense of conservation caring. As part of these surveys, visitors are asked to take part in a listening exercise where they take in the sounds of the environment for three minutes. (Keller, 2026)
Unnecessary noise is forbidden in FNP and therefore equipment like drones and motorized ice drills are forbidden (Femundsmarka Nasjonalpark, 2025). The soundscape is thus mostly untainted by human-made noise, except for that of the occasional motorboat or passing aircraft. Your footsteps become part of the rhythm of the landscape and so you become entangled in nature, breathing in every moment. It is fitting that walking is seen as a part of slow tourism where personal awareness and immersion is encouraged. In the early summer the call of the Brambling (Bjørkevink) creates the steady drumbeat in the rhythm section of Femundsmarka. The call of the Bjørkevink is described as a slow, one second-long tone “rrrrruh” as well as a loud, sharp, croaking “tæ-æhp” sound (Schandy, 2026). If one were to hear the song of this bird in isolation it might not be the most attractive sound, but in the context of the forests of Femundsmarka the song of the Bjørkevink settles and finds its place.
Femundsmarka National Park is one of Norway’s oldest National parks and rich in history, with large expanses of untouched forests and mountains (Femundsmarka Nasjonalpark, 2025). The park was designated as a protected area in 1971 and the area was expanded in 2003. Today the park spans over 573 square kilometers (Femundsmarka Nasjonalpark, 2025). The landscape of the park includes old and new forests, landscapes strewn with rocks and mountainous areas.
The silver pines that are all over FNP are a visual feature of the place. They are monuments to the past and they create a home for the future. All trees in the park are protected, whether they are alive or dead (Femundsmarka Nasjonalpark, 2025). The dead trees create a space for insects, plants, algae and moss to thrive.
Reindeer at Røa dock. Photo: Noelien Wilsnach
FNP is an important area for Southern Sámi reindeer husbandry and it is here that I saw (domestic) reindeer for the first time. At times I would hear the reindeer before I could see them and they would announce themselves by the rhythmic beat of their hooves as the herd runs through the forest, their grunts of communication or the sound of tearing undergrowth as they eat. I was sitting at Røa waiting for the boat to come in so that I could survey some visitors about their experiences of the soundscape, when I was suddenly surrounded by reindeer. As long as I stayed still and did not pose any kind of threat to the reindeer they grazed very close to where I was sitting. This was a magical moment that will stay bookmarked in my memory. It was so interesting to see these creatures that I previously only knew of as part of folklore and Christmas stories.
The cabin where we stay in Femundsmarka, next to the Røvollen DNT cabin, is another picture of history. The ‘hyttebøker’ (visitation books) are filled with details of visits through the years. A place for researchers and national park staff to rest. In the cabin you can also find framed articles about the researchers that have made use of the cabin through the years.
Our literature review about current trends in soundscape research, surveys and conversations with visitors inspired us to continue our soundscape research into the winter. Most soundscape studies focus solely on summer and spring soundscapes while the other seasonal sounds are neglected. We plan on visiting Femundsmarka in the upcoming winter holiday to collect surveys and interview visitors about their experiences of the winter soundscape.
The fairytale magic of Femundsmarka has captured my imagination and I look forward to many more visits to this beautiful park. I conclude this short introduction to the rhythms of fieldwork by returning to the last stanza of Farley’s “Silence Speaks”. I hope to always have the presence of mind to hear the secrets Femundsmarka is whispering to me.
There's treasure buried here,
secrets desperately awaiting your discovery.
Your heart knows it.
Feels it.
Your mind contains the map
if it is hushed.
If it is clear.
Silence speaks.
But do you hear?
(Farley, 2021)
Bibliography:
Farley, J. 2021. Silence Speaks, https://alongthebarrenroad.com/2021/02/28/silence-speaks-poem-about-listening-in-nature/
Femund. (2024). Historien - MS Fæmund. MS Fæmund. https://www.femund.no/historien/
Femundsmarka Nasjonalpark. (2025). Velkommen til Femundsmarka nasjonalpark. Femundsmarka Nasjonalpark. https://femundsmarkanasjonalpark.no/
Keller, R. 2026. Sounds like Norway, https://www.nina.no/english/Sustainable-society/Nature-and-society/Sounds-Like-Norway-en-GB
Schandy, T. 2026. Bjørkevink, https://snl.no/bj%C3%B8rkefink