Introduction
Halden is border town close to the south west region of Sweden. Halden is also a municipality (AKA a county) that is interesting geographically for hikers for a variety of reasons. If you single it out on a map you will notice that the municipality juts into Sweden, making it possible to hike from Sweden into Norway from any direction on your compass. For instance, you can walk south into Norway at the southern end of Iddefjord, which makes for the rather rare sentence: "I hiked south into Norway."
But I would also say that the Halden area of interest because it is beautiful and has good hiking. Over the years I have explored the area here and there, taking short hikes across the border and then returning back to Sweden on many different section hikes. And for years I said to myself that I should plan some hikes that go through Halden. I finally got around to doing a few section hikes across this charming little slice of Norway, and I am happy to report that these were good hikes and that this area is worth exploring.
What follows shortly is a trail guide to hike from Sweden through Halden municipality to the city of Halden and then back into Sweden again. The starting points I recommend (and the points I used in my hikes) are the town of Ed to the east of Halden, and the small city of Strömstad to the west. Another feature that makes this hike of interest to both section hikers and thru-hikers alike is the proximity to several other longer hiking trails. Meaning that hiking through Halden can be done, for example, as a side trail or hiked in addition to hiking Bohusleden, Pilgrimsleden, The Troll Trail, etc. I will point out how this hike could fit into other hikes soon in the guide below, as well as other useful information on how to hike this route. After the trail guide will be my trip report, which will be in the form of a photo essay.
