Photo: Jørund F Pedersen·CC BY-SA 3.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Moss / Kollen
Island by Larkollen which, together with Eldøya, forms a sheltered harbour with a long history. Part of the same Permian volcanic rock formation as Jeløya and Eldøya.
Kollen lies tight against Eldøya west of Larkollen, and the two islets form the sound that has served for ages as a safe harbour for boats seeking shelter from the weather. It is the same reddish Permian rock as Eldøya. The old harbour is the sound between them.
Eldøya-Sletter protected landscape. The boundaries and the rules are in Naturbase, and they are worth checking before you land anywhere outside the marked areas.
Private boat or kayak.
No scheduled boat comes here. You will have to find the nearest public quay yourself, and the rest is your own boat or a kayak. Check the wind and wave forecast before you set out; the open stretches in the outer fjord turn unpleasant in a fresh breeze.
Kollen is built of lava rock from the Permian, the same volcanic formation as Jeløya, Eldøya and Revlingen, all of it part of the Oslo Rift (Oslofeltet). Together with Eldøya, Kollen makes a naturally sheltered harbour, and the area around Larkollen has a long history as an anchorage. The English artist John William Edy drew the burial ground and a "remarkable stone" at Larkollen around 1800, published in the folio work Boydell's Picturesque Scenery of Norway.
Kollen is an uninhabited islet in the Eldøya-Sletter protected landscape, a destination for people coming out from Larkollen by private boat or kayak.
Kollen is reached by private boat or kayak. The islet lies within the Eldøya-Sletter protected landscape, established in 1997. Check Naturbase, the national map of protected areas, for any breeding-season access ban on the neighbouring seabird reserves. Several islets in this area carry protection with seasonal bans, and that is law rather than something to guess at.
The harbour between Kollen and Eldøya is ancient. Sailing ships sought shelter here long before modern harbours existed, and the geography alone, two islets screening a sound, made the place a natural refuge.
Around 1800 English artists travelled in Norway and drew the landscape for the market back home. The Larkollen area ended up in Boydell's Picturesque Scenery of Norway, Norwegian skerries as British drawing-room art.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Kollen on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Kollen på norsk.