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On my hiking trips, I mostly sleep in my tent, but occasionally I appreciate to have a roof. Mostly by chance, I've found on my trips a number of free and open huts in Norway that are not owned by Den Norske Turistforening (DNT) (the Norwegian Tourist Association). They tend to be far away from where most people hike. I've never seen one occupied and browsing through guestbooks usually reveals an occupation of less than 20 nights per year. They're marked on the map, but from the map it's not possible to tell the difference between private and locked cabins (hunting and fishing associations have quite a few of these), available to the public at a fee (usually by fetching the key in the nearest village in advance), or unlocked and free to use. Some free-to-use ones that I've discovered, all by chance, are:

  • Havgahytta, owned by Reindriftsforvaltninga, i.e. the reindeer herding organisation (this hut appears to have no web presence of any kind, but I've passed by there).
  • Ragohytta, very high up in Rago Nasjonalpark [PDF], owned (or at least operated/maintained) by Statskog, the national forest agency
  • Heggedalshytta, owned by Statskog.
  • Tarhalshytta, owned — I believe — by Hammerfest kommun. Picture below.

Tarhalshytta on Sørøya
Tarhalshytta on Sørøya, with the Barents Sea

For Statskog I have found an overview of open huts here [PDF], but that's only one of the agencies. Is there any resource on the web that collects — perhaps by users contributing — an overview of such freely available huts?

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    This is good question. I would be interested too. You might want to try here as well ut.no/hytte - however this is DNT/community maintained.
    – user5343
    Commented May 7, 2015 at 13:10
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    @RafalZiolkowski DNT huts (manned or unmanned) are more luxurious, require a fee, and if unmanned, a key. They do also have basic shelters, though.
    – gerrit
    Commented May 8, 2015 at 17:45
  • Nice question, was wondering the same thing myself... The whole getting-the-key-in-advance business always put me off a bit. Especially when you are on a flexible route and/or are entering the region through the wilderness (e.g. from Sweden) it can make using the DNT huts infeasible.
    – fgysin
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 9:50
  • See also Mountain bothies for a comparable concept in Britain.
    – gerrit
    Commented Apr 24, 2016 at 17:04
  • Some of those in Finnmark: fefo.no/no/Friluftsliv/Sider/Leiehytteodestue.aspx
    – gerrit
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 23:05

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Fjellstyrene.no might lead you to the right fjellstyre and their website with more information about huts

here is also a good start for finding open huts..
https://utelivet.wordpress.com/bubasen/

[Edit] Still not being a full overview, there is another site from Statskog, the state owned land and forest enterprise, that has published a PDF OVERVIEW with 100+ open free cabins around the country. The site is partly translated to English so I figured a direct link to the published pdf would help. As I said, not a satisfying correct answer to your question, but a little help along the way.

[Another Edit]
I think I found what you are looking for. A google my maps layer with, if not all, pretty many huts that are open and free of charge.
Open huts and shelters

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  • As far as I can tell, this is one organisation who have huts that are partly open, but not free of charge.
    – gerrit
    Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 23:02
  • Many of the different fjellstyrer have open huts and a list of them as well if you visit their linked local sites. Many of them are free of charge.
    – iontomet
    Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 23:09
  • They don't seem to cover northern Norway though? (NB: I did not downvote)
    – gerrit
    Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 23:13
  • That bubasen looks like a nice attempt, unfortunately woefully incomplete. It would need a wiki with active participation to keep remotely complete, I suppose. I talked to some Sami people who say they have built some of those huts and decide not to tell anyone, least of all the authorities or the people who come to make the maps!
    – gerrit
    Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 23:17

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