Can I wear jeans to hike Preikestolen?

You can, and plenty of people do, and most of them spend the second half of the walk uncomfortable. Jeans are not a safety problem in themselves. The problem is that the real question behind this one is whether you will be cold and wet, and in denim the answer is usually yes.

Rain a year in StavangerAround 1,310 mm

Rainy days a yearAbout 162

Summer averageAround 15–16 °C

Summer high21–22 °C

Winter averageAround 2 °C

Time on the trail4 to 5 hours

Why denim is the wrong fabric here

Cotton holds water and gives up insulating the moment it is wet. On a four-to-five-hour walk in oceanic weather you will get wet from at least one of three directions: rain, the marsh under the boardwalks, or your own sweat on the climbs. Wet denim then sits cold against your legs for the rest of the day, it takes hours to dry, it goes heavy, and it chafes behind the knee where the seam runs. None of that is dangerous at fifteen degrees in July. In wind at the top, it is the difference between a good hour on the plateau and ten minutes and a retreat.

What the weather is really like

Stavanger has an oceanic climate: cool, wet and windy, with something like 1,310 millimetres of rain spread over about 162 days a year. Summer averages 15 to 16 degrees with highs of 21 or 22. That sounds mild, and at the car park it is. Six hundred metres up on an exposed edge with a wind coming in off the fjord it is not the same number. The month-by-month detail is on weather and rain.

What I would wear instead

What works

Synthetic or wool trousers that dry while you are still walking
A waterproof shell layer for the legs, packed even on a clear morning
Above-ankle waterproof boots with a real sole, which is the official advice
Wool socks, and a spare pair in the bag for the drive home

Worth knowing

Denim of any weight, and especially anything tight through the knee
Cotton leggings, which behave the same way denim does
Trainers with a smooth sole, on wet granite
Shorts alone in any month, unless you carry something to put over them

If jeans are genuinely all you have

Then go anyway, on a dry summer day, and carry a waterproof over-layer and a warm top. Start early, turn round if the weather closes in, and accept that you will be slower coming down. What I would not do is wear jeans between November and March, or on a day the forecast is wet from the start. The full list is on what to wear and what to bring.

Local tip

Feel the back of your knees when you stop for the first time. If the denim is already damp from sweat on the stone stairs, it will be wet all day, and the top is windier than the path. That is the point to decide how long you are staying up there.

What there is to book

Not the trail. Nobody sells a ticket to Preikestolen and nobody can, so anything you pay for is something else: the ride out of Stavanger, the guide who walks it with you, or the boat that shows you the cliff from the water. Which of the three you actually need is set out on the bookings page and in the comparison.

Check dates & book

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Frequently asked questions

Will anyone stop me hiking in jeans?

No. There is nobody to stop you and no dress code. The trail is unstaffed and free.

Are trainers acceptable?

In dry summer conditions people manage in them. The official advice is above-ankle waterproof boots, and the boulder fields are the reason.

What about in winter?

Jeans are a poor idea from November to March, when the rock ices and crampons are normal kit. See the winter hike.