Am I allowed to pick mushrooms and berries in Norway?
Yes — the right to roam lets you freely pick wild berries, mushrooms, flowers and herbs on uncultivated land, without asking the landowner. The right follows from the Outdoor Recreation Act §5, and you must behave considerately. One special rule surprises most people: cloudberries in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark. There the landowner can forbid picking on designated cloudberry land — but you may always eat the cloudberries on the spot, even where you may not take them home. Protected plants may not be picked anywhere. The line that decides everything is cultivated versus uncultivated land: gardens, fields and farmyards are cultivated and need the landowner's permission, while most undeveloped nature is uncultivated. And you must never damage trees or bushes.
📋 The rules
- Free to pick wild berries, mushrooms, flowers and herbs on uncultivated land
- Follows the Outdoor Recreation Act §5 — do it considerately
- Cloudberries in the north: a landowner can forbid picking
- But you may always eat cloudberries on the spot
- Protected plants may not be picked
🔓 Exceptions
- In the north cloudberry picking can be forbidden, but eating on the spot is always allowed
- Cultivated land (gardens, fields) needs the landowner's permission
- You must not damage trees or bushes
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Breaches of the Outdoor Recreation Act can bring a fine under §39, and that covers unlawfully taking cloudberries in the north or picking protected plants. The fines are rarely the real problem — the boundaries are, because they are invisible on the ground. Walk from uncultivated onto cultivated land without noticing and you are suddenly picking without permission, and a landowner who has been allowed to forbid cloudberry picking on their cloudberry land can order you off. Damaging trees and bushes is a separate breach, whatever was in your basket. The right to pick simply stops the moment you stand on cultivated land.
📎 Official sources
- Environment Agency · Picking berries, mushrooms and herbs →
- Outdoor Recreation Act §5 · Lovdata →
- Environment Agency · Cloudberry picking →
❓ Frequently asked
Can I pick mushrooms on others' land?
Yes. The right to roam lets you pick wild berries, mushrooms, flowers and herbs on uncultivated land, including land someone else owns, and you do not have to ask first. The condition is that you behave considerately and do not damage trees or bushes.
Can I pick cloudberries in the north?
The landowner can forbid picking on cloudberry land in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, and there the ordinary right to pick does not apply. But you may always eat the cloudberries on the spot — it is taking them home that can be forbidden.
Are there plants I may not pick?
Yes. Protected plants may not be picked at all, whether they stand on cultivated or uncultivated land, and a breach can be fined. The right to roam covers wild berries, mushrooms, flowers and herbs — it does not set protection aside.
Can I pick on cultivated land?
No, not without the landowner's permission. The right to roam applies only to uncultivated land, so the moment you step into a garden, a field or a farmyard you need consent — including for mushrooms and berries growing wild there.
What is the difference between cultivated and uncultivated land?
Cultivated land is gardens, fields and farmyards, that is, land in use. Uncultivated land is most undeveloped nature, and that is where the right to roam applies — the line between them decides whether you are picking lawfully.
🔎 Common searches
What people search to land here:
- “can I pick mushrooms others land norway”
- “right to roam picking berries”
- “cloudberries north norway rules”
- “protected plants picking norway”
- “pick mushrooms uncultivated land”
- “outdoor recreation act picking”