Kunoy Region
Kunoy is a narrow, steeply mountainous island in the Northern Isles of the Faroe Islands with a total population of around 156 people spread across two settlements. Its name translates as Woman Island, and the neighbouring island of Kalsoy to the west is called Man Island. The island's silhouette from the sea is distinctly pyramid-shaped, dominated by the peak of Kúvingafjall at 830 metres, the sixth highest point in the Faroe Islands. The village of Kunoy on the western shore is a compact cluster of coloured houses with a red church, a small park, and views across to Kalsoy. Behind the village, the Viðarlundin forest is one of the most surprising features in the entire archipelago: a genuine planted forest of ash, birch, and spruce that stands as the only forest of any significance in the Faroe Islands, a country almost entirely without native tree cover. A trail from the village leads through the gorge of Skarðsgjógv to the abandoned settlement of Skarð, accessible only to experienced hikers with a guide.
A Pyramid-Shaped Island with 156 Residents, the Only Forest in the Faroe Islands, and a Trail to an Abandoned Village
Kunoy sits between Kalsoy to the west and Borðoy to the east, connected to Borðoy by a causeway across the Haraldsund strait. The island is long and narrow, approximately 13 kilometres from north to south and barely 3 kilometres at its widest point, with mountain walls that rise almost directly from the sea on both coasts leaving almost no lowland. The steep terrain limits habitation to two villages: Haraldssund on the eastern shore near the causeway, and Kunoy on the western shore, reached from Haraldssund via a single-lane mountain tunnel. Together they have a total population of around 156, making Kunoy one of the more sparsely inhabited of the Faroese islands. The highest point, Kúvingafjall at 830 metres, gives the island its distinctive pyramid profile when seen from Klaksvík across the water. The island name translates as Woman Island, paired with the adjacent Kalsoy, Man Island, a naming convention whose origin is undocumented but presumed to relate to the respective silhouettes of the two islands.
The Viðarlundin forest behind Kunoy village is one of the most unexpected natural features in the Faroe Islands. The Faroes are almost entirely treeless, a consequence of Viking Age deforestation of whatever limited natural woodland existed combined with the climate and soil conditions that prevent natural forest regeneration. Viðarlundin is a deliberately planted woodland of ash, birch, and spruce that has grown over the decades into a genuine small forest with proper canopy cover, walking paths, a picnic area, and a large rock known as Eggjarsteinur at the edge of the treeline. In a landscape where a stand of trees is genuinely unusual, walking under canopy in the Faroe Islands feels strangely foreign and specifically memorable. The forest is freely accessible from the village.
The hike through Skarðsgjógv gorge to the abandoned village of Skarð is one of the more demanding walks in the Northern Islands and should only be undertaken by experienced hikers with a local guide. The gorge cuts between razor-edged mountain ridges through terrain that is steep, exposed, and subject to rapid weather change. The village of Skarð was abandoned in 1913 following a tragedy in which ten men from the settlement drowned in a single storm, leaving only women and children; the entire remaining population left the following year. The ruins of the village stand at the gorge's end in a setting of complete isolation. Visitors are asked to treat the site with respect, as many Faroese families can trace ancestry to Skarð. Kunoy is reached from Klaksvík on Borðoy via the Haraldsund causeway, a drive of about 20 minutes.
