Best husky tour in Kemijärvi: which ride for which party
Illustration photo: a husky in snow, not at the places named here.
The short answer
To meet the dogs with a short ride, book the farm visit on the platform. For a family on a budget, the farm outside town has child fares and a four-kilometre ride. To learn to drive, take the Suomutunturi ride of five or ten kilometres. For the longest time at the reins, ask the resort in town about its eight-kilometre self-drive route, which it prices only on request.
The platforms show one husky outing for Kemijärvi. The town’s own operator list shows several more, from a farm outside town to a fell resort and a resort in town.1
If you want to meet the dogs
Book the platform’s farm visit: an hour and a half with the huskies and a short ride, by sled once there is snow. It does not take children under four.
If you are counting every euro with children
The farm outside town, booked through a hotel in Kemijärvi, sells a four-kilometre ride with a child fare, the cheapest family option with a published price for children.
If you want to learn to drive
The Suomutunturi rides teach you to handle the sled before you set off, over five or ten kilometres, and the longer one ends with a sausage by the fire.2
If you want the longest time at the reins
The resort in town runs an eight-kilometre route you drive yourself, two to two and a half hours, and publishes no price for it.3 The farm visit is described in full on husky safari in Kemijärvi.
Questions people ask
Do we need a car for these rides?
For some. The platform's farm visit meets you in its car park at the start time and offers no pick-up. The hotel that books the farm outside town says the farm is about 14 kilometres away and arranges transport for an extra charge. Suomutunturi is a fell resort outside town, and the resort in town is in Kemijärvi itself, so only that last one is on the doorstep for a guest staying in town.
Is it worth driving to Pyhä instead?
Pyhä is 46 minutes away and its husky farm sells a four-to-five-kilometre run at 140 euros and an eight-to-ten-kilometre run at 199, with transport there charged separately. That is a comparable choice rather than a better one; it makes sense if you are going to Pyhä anyway, not as a reason to leave the Kemijärvi rides behind.
How many people share a sled?
At Suomutunturi the page says two or three people ride with one team, which suits a family taking turns. The platform's farm visit and the farm outside town do not say. The resort in town describes its longer route as one you drive yourself and gives no number per sled, so ask how many share one before you book, especially with children who want to ride along.