Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park

About

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is Finland's third largest national park and it covers an area of 1,020 square kilometres. The national park is located in Western Lapland in the municipalities of Enontekiö, Kittilä, Kolari and Muonio. The landscape of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is dominated by a chain of fells stretching for approximately 100 km and the taiga forests in the boreal forest zone. In terms of visits, Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is Finland's most popular national park. In 2019, the visitor counters recorded 561,200 visits. There are many reasons for the popularity of the national park. According to a visitor survey, visitors to the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park particularly appreciate the landscapes in the area, its extensive network of paths and trails as well as general tidiness and safety. The landscape of Pallastunturi Fells has been chosen as one of Finland's national landscapes.

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park has dozens of different trails for hiking and skiing that are suitable for people looking for different levels of difficulty. The trails provide a great chance to see the diverse nature of the national park. Some of the trails lead to the top of the fells, while others wind through the forest nature and swamp landscapes of the area.

You can walk, mountain bike, paddle, ski and snowshoe in the national park. A diverse range of hiking trails provides the opportunity for day trips of different lengths and longer hikes. In Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, day hikers can also climb to the top of the fells. Popular day trips include the Pyhäkeron päiväretki Day Hike, Taivaskeron kierros Circle Trail, Pirunkurun ponnistus Trail, Varkaankurun polku Trail, Kesänkijärven kierros Circle Trail and Tuomikurun kierros Circle Trail.

The majority of the routes are circle trails, and there are serviced campsites on all the trails. The campsites can be Lapp huts, lean-to shelters, campfire sites, scenic locations, as well as wilderness and rental huts. The national park area has a total of 340 kilometres of marked summer hiking trails. Approximately 200 kilometres of summer hiking trails are also located in the vicinity of the national park. With a few exceptions, mountain biking is permitted on marked summer hiking trails. There are over 500 kilometres of ski trails and more than 100 kilometres of winter hiking trails. You can walk, snowshoe and mountain bike on the winter hiking trails.

The Hetta-Pallas Trail is the best known hiking trail in the national park – and the oldest marked hiking trail in Finland. It was marked in 1934. The Hetta-Pallas Trail is approximately 50 kilometres long, and it can be hiked in either direction. The trail runs along the fell plateaus and descends into ravines. It also takes hikers to the tops of many fells. There are several serviced wilderness and rental huts along the route.

The trekking trails and services of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park can be found on ExcursionMap.fi.

The landscape of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is dominated by a chain of fells, which is the remains of an ancient folded mountain range. Today's rounded fells are the worn-down bases of those mountains. The highest point in the national park is Taivaskero in the Pallastunturi Fells, which is 809 metres above sea level. Other high summits include Pyhäkero, Lumikero, Laukukero and Palkaskero. Kero is a Finnish word that refers to the round, treeless top of a fell.

The nature in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is diverse and varied. The area has several different habitats: mires, heath forests, old-growth forests in their natural state, open fells and herb-rich forests.

The national park is rich in vegetation. Pine, spruce and fell birch do particularly well in the area. Typical plants in the treeless fell areas include various low-growing plants like dwarf birch, pincushion plants, Alpine bearberry and crowberry. The lush creekside groves are a good place to find plants like downy currant, ostrich fern, garden angelica and mezereum. In terms of dwarf shrubs, blueberry and lingonberry thrive in the heath forests. Wood cranesbill and dwarf cornel as well as many other rare species of moss and fungi grow in the moist old-growth forests.

In addition to fells and coniferous forests, mires are a typical landscape in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Many wetland plants, such as Labrador tea, tussock cottongrass, cloudberry and bog bilberry, do well in mires. Rare orchids also grow in the calcareous areas.

The national park has many lakes, ponds and streams. The largest lake in the park is Pallasjärvi Lake, located southeast of the Pallastunturi Visitor Centre.

Large mammals found in the national park include reindeer and elk. During the summer, reindeer in particular spend a lot of time on the fells and in mire areas. Other mammals typically seen in the area are the hare, fox, weasel, Norway lemming, various species of mole and the squirrel. Bear and lynx are two of Finland's large predators that live permanently in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park area.

Northern and southern bird species mix in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Northern species include the rock ptarmigan, willow grouse and Eurasian dotterel. Lush spruce forests are a popular location for southern species like the common blackbird and wood warbler. Various tit species, Siberian jays and pine grosbeaks can be seen in the forest. Whenever there are a lot of moles, more owls and hawks can also be observed in the area. A typical inhabitant of streams is the white-throated dipper, which dives into running water to catch its food – also in the winter. Other bird species seen in the national park include the bluethroat, wood sandpiper, western yellow wagtail, ruff and spotted redshank.

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park's location north of the Arctic Circle means that it experiences the typical weather and natural phenomena associated with seasonal changes. Winter includes a polar night period in December–January, snowfall, freezing temperatures that can drop to -30 °C and very little sunlight. On clear evenings and nights, planets, stars and the northern lights may be visible in the sky.

The snow cover in the national park is thickest in March–April, when there may be more than one metre of snow on the fells and in the forests. The amount of light increases rapidly in late winter. When spring arrives, the snow melts and the amount of light continues to increase. Summer begins in mid-June, and the midnight sun lights up the area in June–July. The sun doesn't set at all during this period.

The display of autumn colours usually begins in mid-September in Western Lapland and lasts for two to three weeks. The first snow generally falls sometime after mid-October, but snowdrifts can occasionally be seen during the summer months, especially in the area of the Pallas-Ounastunturi Fells.

The national park is rich in vegetation. Pine, spruce and fell birch do particularly well in the area. Typical plants in the treeless fell areas include various low-growing plants like dwarf birch, pincushion plants, Alpine bearberry and crowberry. The lush creekside groves are a good place to find plants like downy currant, ostrich fern, garden angelica and mezereum. In terms of dwarf shrubs, blueberry and lingonberry thrive in the heath forests. Wood cranesbill and dwarf cornel as well as many other rare species of moss and fungi grow in the moist old-growth forests.

In addition to fells and coniferous forests, mires are a typical landscape in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Many wetland plants, such as Labrador tea, tussock cottongrass, cloudberry and bog bilberry, do well in mires. Rare orchids also grow in the calcareous areas.

The national park has many lakes, ponds and streams. The largest lake in the park is Pallasjärvi Lake, located southeast of the Pallastunturi Visitor Centre.

Large mammals found in the national park include reindeer and elk. During the summer, reindeer in particular spend a lot of time on the fells and in mire areas. Other mammals typically seen in the area are the hare, fox, weasel, Norway lemming, various species of mole and the squirrel. Bear and lynx are two of Finland's large predators that live permanently in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park area.