The farms of Modalen lie on fertile land that was once the bottom of the sea and river in the area between Mofjord and Steinsland Lake. Mo has been a church center ever since the Middle Ages and its own parish prior to 1350 A.D. With its strategic location between the inland villages and the sea route, people would travel to Mo from both of the valleys of Modalen and Eksingedalen to attend church or continue on to Bergen. It took 12 hours to row from Mo to Bergen.
Until the tunnel between Modalen and Eksingedalen was completed in 1976, navigating the fjord by boat was the only means of transportation out of Modalen. Eventually, a road built along the fjord to Romarheim was completed in 1996. The notable lyric poet Olav Nygard was born on the alpine farm of Krossen in Modalen.
Modalen is one of the gateways into the Stølsheimen Conservation Area, one of the most beautiful and pristine alpine regions in all of Western Norway.