[4][5] The plateau is the largest peneplain (eroded plain) in Europe, covering an area of about 6,500 km2 (2,500 sq mi) at an average elevation of 1,100 metres (3,600 ft).

[4][5] The landscape of the Hardangervidda is characterised by barren, treeless moorland interrupted by numerous pools, lakes, rivers and streams.

On 26 August 2016, 323 were killed by lightning, prompting a Norwegian Environment Agency discussion on whether to leave so many corpses in the open.

[6] Ciclosporin, an immunosuppressant drug widely used in organ transplantation to prevent rejection was initially isolated from the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum (Beauveria nivea), found in a soil sample obtained in 1969 from Hardangervidda.

The Hardangervidda has been occupied for thousands of years; several hundred nomadic Stone Age settlements have been found in the area, most likely related to the migration of the reindeer.

The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) maintains a comprehensive network of huts and paths across the plateau.

The final two acts of the play When We Dead Awaken (Danish: Når vi døde vågner) by Henrik Ibsen, are set in a mountain health resort in Hardangervidda.