Walking Hiking Canoeing Sightseeing Visit a Nature Information Hut Walk on a nature trail Ski cross-country on maintained trails Ski cross-country off trails Fishing Bär- och svampplockning Hunting Snowshoeing

What can one do in the Utsjoki Area?

Walk on Marked Trails

The area has short and medium-long routes and a nature trail.

Go Wilderness Trekking

There are two long marked routes in the Utsjoki area, Utsjoki Hiking Trail and Kevo Trail. The Kaldoaivi and Paistunturi wilderness areas surrounding the parish village are excellent for longer, more challenging treks. The marked routes can be found in other parts of the wilderness areas.

Go Canoeing and Rowing

There are no marked canoe routes in the Utsjoki area. The area's rivers with their gorgeous scenery are, however, suitable for canoeing. River Utsjoki with its many lakes is great for canoeing from the southern part of Lake Mierasjärvi down to the River Tenojoki. The River Tenojoki can be negotiated in a canoe from Karigasniemi all the way to Tenovuono Fjord. Both rivers have some shallow, rocky rapids where it is necessary to transport the canoe along land, or guide it down-river from the shore.

When using your own canoe, make sure that you do not accidentally transport the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris from the waters leading to the Baltic, which could have a devastating effect on the Arctic Ocean salmon population.

See the Sights and Scenery

Utsjoki's church huts and other cultural monuments are worth taking a closer look at. Fabulous views open up for dozens of kilometres from the fells and hills surrounding the river valley.

See the Nature Information Hut

Utsjoki Nature Information Hut has a small exhibition on the area's history and the salmon. In the summer, the municipal touristinformation point can be found there, as can brochures on nature and tourism. Fishing and hunting permits, maps, books and cards can be bought at the Nature Hut.

Walk on Nature Trail

The geological nature trail starting at Utsjoki parish village provides information on Utsjoki's soil and bedrock, its forms and its development. The length of the circular route is 3.5 km.

Ski Cross-country on Maintained Trails and off Trails

Utsjoki municipality maintains a short (2.3 km) lit ski trail. The trail winds along near the school centre and it has very small altitudinal differences so it is suitable for all kinds of skiers. There are other ski trails in the area as well but they are only kept open by volunteers. Skiing is also permitted elsewhere in the Utsjoki area and the tracks left by snowmobiles and the tightly-packed snow of the fells bear the weight of skiers well, even outside the maintained ski trails. You are allowed to ski from 16 October - 30 April throughout Kevo Strict Nature Reserve's fell area.

Go Ski Trekking

In winter Utsjoki's quiet wilderness areas offer an excellent destination for wilderness treks. The varying weather conditions and forces of nature in the inhospitable environment offer challenges and new situations even for experienced skiers. The area's snowmobile tracks can help a skier when the snow elsewhere gives way underfoot due to sudden changes in weather conditions.

Go Fishing

The area is popular with fishing enthusiasts due to its plentiful waters. For any fishing other than angling or ice-fishing, anyone between the ages of 18 and 64 will need to pay a fishing management fee (www.eraluvat.fi) and buy the appropriate fishing permit.

Visitors to the area are allowed to fish on the River Tenojoki between 1 June and 20 August. Anyone fishing on the River Tenojoki must pay a fishing management fee and purchase a fishing permit for the River Tenojoki, sold by most tourism entrepreneurs and the shopping centre Uulan Säästö. More information on the other regulations included in the River Tenojoki fishing regulations is available at fishing permit sales points and the Utsjoki Nature Information Hut.

Permit number 1574 (www.eraluvat.fi) for the Utsjoki area covers most brooks, rivers and lakes in Utsjoki Municipality, but not the fast flowing parts of the River Utsjoki itself. This permit can be obtained from Siida and, in the summer, the Utsjoki Nature Information Hut.

The parasite Gyrodactylus salaris has not yet spread to Finland's valuable salmon rivers. For more information, please visit.

Go Berry and Mushroom Picking

The Utsjoki area offers excellent opportunities for picking berries and mushroom. The orange birch-bolete mushroom is plentiful in the area. The most fruitful of the berries are the blueberry, lingonberry, crowberry and cloudberry, although they ripen later there than in the rest of Finland.

Go Hunting

The Utsjoki area belongs to two permit areas: 1602 Paistunturi and 1603 Kaldoaivi. The areas provide a limited number of small game permits per day, with which visitors are allowed to hunt grouse, hare, small predators and water fowl, within the limits of the hunting season. The nearby fells surrounding the area offer an accessible area for hunting grouse.

Reindeer husbandry is a significant livelihood in the area, so using chasing dogs for hunting is prohibited even with a permit. There may be seasonal restrictions in the areas due to reindeer husbandry.

Permits can be bought from Metsähallitus netstore (www.eräluvat.fi), at Metsähallitus' Ivalo Customer Service Point and at the Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida.

Go Snowshoe Walking

There are no marked snowshoe trails in the area. When the snow is packed tightly by the wind, it is easy to hike on in snowshoes, but stream beds and other places where snow collects in drifts, can cause hikers to sink deep into the snow.