The first mountain lodges in Finnmark were built during the 1820s as part of the postal routes across the Finnmark Plateau. The first buildings were peat goahtis for the postmen to stay in overnight. The mountain lodges were situated 30 to 50 km apart, which equalled the distance a reindeer with sledge could make per day in bad weather. In 1876 the responsibility for the mountain lodges was taken over by the government who employed keepers who were to offer lodgings in return for the use of land and forest with hunting and fishing rights. Simple keepers' cottages were built, and these typically had two rooms: one for the keeper and family, and the other for the travellers where firewood, kindling and reindeer skins were provided. The traveller would often be a government official.

By the beginning of WW2 there were between 40 and 50 mountain lodges in Finnmark. Some of the most remote ones were based on self-service, but most had a keeper employed by the government. At that point in history there were also 7 privately owned mountain lodges.

Today most of Finnmark's mountain lodges are in private ownership and the current owners are typically descendants of previous keepers. The buildings have been modernized to standards that satisfy the expectations of our time, but still, the mountain lodges have kept their unique quality of being homes that receive travellers.