It is located at the southwest end of the Inderøya peninsula in the Utøya area, surrounded on two sides by the Trondheimsfjord.

[4] Vangshylla is located on the southwestern end of Inderøya and is the closest point to the outer parts of Trondheimsfjord, including Trondheim, as well as to the neighboring villages of Mosvik and Ytterøya.

The first recorded service was when the minister Jakob Jørgensen Wesseltoft in 1732 fled Inderøy by being rowed to Trondheim.

Vangshylla was established as a stop, and the farm-owner Gotvard Hovd was hired to run the port.

In 1905, Thomas Næss established a general store adjacent to the docks, selling products delivered by ship.

In 1930, the road to Kvam was expanded to Vangshylla to a quality that allowed motorized vehicles, to follow a slightly different route.

These days would assemble people from the area who would collect their mail and newspapers and conduct necessary purchases.

[10] In 1950, the store was taken over by Trygve Næss and the buses, mail, and newspapers started coming daily.

[18] The first meeting of local commercial and political interests to establish a bridge across Skarnsund was made in 1972.

[23] In its last year of operation, the ferry service carried 267,894 people, 108,482 cars, 13,878 trucks, 840 buses and 312 motorcycles.

Skarnsundet Fjordsenter was founded in 1992, and five years later opened eight apartments for rental for fishing tourists.

The center was expanded in 2006, when a new breakwater, marina, a fishing equipment store and a marine fuel station were erected.