You don’t need to set off on a week-long trek to enjoy a national park in Lapland.

Many great experiences come from a day hike of a few hours: the trail climbs from the treeline onto a fell, you eat your packed lunch at a hut or a kota shelter, and in the evening you’re back in your own sauna.

For a first-timer, the goal isn’t to find “the best national park” but one that fits the route of your trip.

Pallas-Yllästunturi: classic fell landscape

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park stretches from Ylläs via Pallas to Hetta. It has short day hikes as well as the well-known Hetta–Pallas trek of about 50 km.

The landscape is the Lapland many people picture before their first trip: chains of fells, open treeless tops, old forests and aapa bogs.

Choose this park if you’re staying in Ylläs, Muonio or Enontekiö and want wide fell views. Stays in Äkäslompolo · Stays in Muonio · Stays in Enontekiö

Urho Kekkonen National Park: from easy day hikes to wilderness

Saariselkä is an easy base for this park. Marked trails lead from the village straight towards the park, so you don’t need a car for every outing.

Rumakuru is one of the well-known day-hike destinations, and there are shorter options close to Saariselkä too. In winter there can be a risk of avalanches in the park’s gorges and on steep slopes, so stick to groomed ski trails and marked winter routes.

Choose this park if you want to combine easy village accommodation with the chance to step into fell wilderness on the same day. Stays in Saariselkä

Pyhä-Luosto: gorges, old forest and an easy base

Pyhä-Luosto is a good choice for a nature holiday of a few days. The Pyhä and Luosto resorts sit at either end of the park, so day hikes start close to your accommodation.

The Isokuru gorge is one of the best-known sights in the area. It’s a restricted zone: you may only move along the built trail and only when there’s no snow, because avalanches are a risk in the gorge in winter.

Choose this park if you want a national park without a long transfer from a big resort. Stays in Pyhä · Stays in Luosto

Salla: a quieter option in the east

Salla National Park is one of Finland’s newest: it was founded at the start of 2022 as Finland’s 41st national park. It protects the rolling hill landscape of eastern Lapland, old forests, bogs and eskers, and it reaches all the way to the Russian border.

Salla isn’t as well known among international travellers as Ylläs or Saariselkä, which is part of its appeal.

Choose this park if the point of your trip is peace and quiet rather than restaurants or nightlife. Stays in Salla

Summer and autumn

The choice of trails is widest when there’s no snow.

In summer you’ll need mosquito protection, water and rain gear. In autumn the weather cools quickly, and there can be sleet or the first snow on the fells even when it’s still autumn in the valley. On open fells, the wind often matters more than the reading on the thermometer.

Read our ruska guide and our midnight sun guide.

In winter, the trail changes

A summer path isn’t automatically a winter route.

Some trails pass through areas with avalanche risk, and summer trail markers can be buried in snow. In winter, use groomed ski trails, winter routes and snowshoe trails.

Check the current conditions for the national park on Luontoon.fi before you go.

A national park isn’t an ordinary forest

According to Metsähallitus, the everyman’s rights don’t apply in national parks as such. Parks can have their own restricted areas, camping spots and rules for making fires.

So don’t light a fire just because a spot in the forest looks good. Use marked campfire sites and check for forest fire warnings.

For your first day hike

Choose a trail that sounds a little too short.

Northern weather, photo stops, lunch breaks and snowy or rocky terrain easily make the day longer than the distance on the map suggests.

The goal isn’t to collect kilometres. The goal is to have time to stop when the view you came to Lapland for opens up behind the fell.