Now that I live in Oslo, I wanted to take advantage of the nearby hiking before the weather turned bad. You can see a lot of potential forests and lakes to explore just by glancing at Google Maps. Of course, many of these are not easy to reach for the casual hiker and/or those dependent on public transportation. After a bit of research, though, I found the following lakes that are not only easy to get to but are not demanding hikes.
Sognsvann
This is probably the most famous lake near Oslo. Sognsvann was a common recommendation from people I talked to, whereas the other lakes on this list people either hadn’t heard of or hadn’t bothered to hike yet. You can reach Sognsvann by taking the #5 subway line to the end, and then the lake is basically right there. It’s also a small enough lake that you can walk around the whole thing pretty quickly. But because of its popularity, that means the trail can get a bit crowded on the weekends.
Øyungen
Øyungen was my favorite lake and is sometimes touted as a “local secret.” I don’t think it’s really a secret, just a lake that’s a little harder to get to, and so not as many people go. You take the #51 bus to the end, but then you still have about 1.5 miles of hiking to get to the actual lake. It’s an easy hike, though, and the scenery on the way there is just as pretty as the lake itself.
Maridalsvannet
The third and final lake I visited was Maridalsvannet. This is also the main drinking supply for Oslo, so it makes sense that you can’t actually hike to the lake. Instead, you follow a trail up the mountain that looks down on the water. To get there, you can either take the #54 bus or the #11 or #12 tram and then walk maybe ten minutes to the trailhead. You won’t always have a view of the lake on your hike, but the trails are still quite nice.