| Sjoa | |
| Pushpin Map: | Innlandet#Norway |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the river |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Norway |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Innlandet |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipalities |
| Subdivision Name3: | Vågå and Sel |
| Length: | 98km (61miles) |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 34.4m3/s |
| Source1: | Gjende lake |
| Source1 Location: | Gjendesheim, Vågå |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 61.495°N 8.8081°W |
| Mouth: | Gudbrandsdalslågen |
| Mouth Location: | Sjoa, Sel |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 61.6796°N 9.5344°W |
| Basin Size: | 1527km2 |
The Sjoa is a river in Innlandet county, Norway. The 98km (61miles) long river runs through the municipalities of Vågå and Sel and it provides the outlet from lake Gjende at Gjendesheim in the Jotunheimen mountains of Norway's Jotunheim National Park. The river flows eastward through the Sjodalen valley and Heidal valley into the Gudbrandsdalslågen river at the village of Sjoa.[1]
South of the village of Randsverk, the river flows through Ridderspranget which is a ravine named after a Norwegian myth.
The river is used for kayaking, rafting and fishing. Thirteen deaths have occurred in the river, from 1989 to 2010. This includes four deaths involving a group of tourists in various inflatable "catarafts", on 24 July 2010 (a national newspaper claimed that at that time the level of the river was 10cm (00inches) above a safe level for rafting).[2] [3]
There are several companies offering rafting, kayaking, riverboarding and other activities in Sjoa and the surrounding area. Some parts of the river are impossible to raft. Some parts are blocked by large rocks which the river flows underneath. These areas are considered "death traps" by the local commercial rafting providers.