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Korouoma canyon and its frozen waterfalls, from Rovaniemi

Two walkers seen from behind on a snow-covered wooden boardwalk with railings, leading away between snow-laden pines

Illustration photo: two walkers on a snow-covered boardwalk through forest.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Treat Korouoma as a full day and a real walk. The tours take about seven hours door to door, including roughly an hour and a half's drive each way, and the walk past the frozen falls is a few kilometres on a trail the park authority grades as hard and says is dangerously slippery in winter. Book a tour that includes ice grips or confirm that it does, and check the minimum age, which runs from eight to ten. If anyone in the group struggles on steep, icy ground, choose a different day out.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Arctic GMToTheNorthNordic OdysseyWild About Lapland
Adult €70 – the cheapest adult ticket €104 €130–140 €145
Child Not stated Not stated €120, aged 10–12 €109
Youngest accepted 8 Not stated 10 8
Leaves Not stated Not stated 08:30 and 13:00 07:30, 08:00 or 09:00
Whole day 7 h 6 h 7 h 7 h
Group Up to 8 Not stated Up to 8 Up to 8
Ice grips Not listed Included Included Not stated
Winter clothing Thermal overalls Not stated €5 a set Overalls and boots
Free cancellation Until 24 h Until 24 h No; 10% from booking Until 24 h on Viator

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the cheapest adult ticket. Only the adult price is marked. The youngest age is unmarked because a lower limit is not better on a trail graded hard. Nordic Odyssey's and Wild About Lapland's child prices and start times are from their own sites, read on 18 September.

Where these figures come from
  • Arctic GM: The cheapest seat on the day we read it, with thermal overalls lent, a sausage barbecue and groups of up to eight.
  • ToTheNorth: A shorter day with snow grips for your shoes in the price, and a barbecue after the walk.
  • Nordic Odyssey: Two departures a day, ice cleats included, with a slightly lower adult price for groups of four or more.
  • Wild About Lapland: Overalls and boots lent for the day and a campfire lunch; meet at its office unless you stay outside the centre.

Tripadvisor ratings, 18 Rovaniemi operators

Highest first
Snowtrail Safaris 5.0
Nordic Odyssey 5.0
Nordic Adventures 4.9
Arctic GM 4.9
Book Lapland 4.9
Bearhill Husky 4.9
Arctic Attitude 4.9
StayLapland 4.8
Wild About Lapland 4.7
Wild Nordic 4.7
Lapland Winter Park 4.6
Safartica 4.5
Nordic Unique Travels 4.5
Apukka Resort 4.4
Lapland Welcome 4.3
Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park 4.3
Arctic Circle Husky Park 4.2
Raitola 3.4

Ratings read from Tripadvisor. The shaded compartment left of the divider holds any score below 4.0. We record the score only; review counts and review text are not part of our comparison.

Korouoma is one of the most photographed places in Finnish Lapland, and the listings sell it from Rovaniemi as though it were close by. It is not in Rovaniemi at all but in Posio, and getting to the falls and back is most of a day. That, and the walk, are what to know before booking.

A seven-hour day with three hours of driving

Every tour here runs to six or seven hours door to door. The operators that say how far it is put the canyon 105 to 110 kilometres from Rovaniemi, and those that give a drive time put it at an hour and a half each way. So around three of the hours are in a vehicle, and the canyon gets what is left.

That is not a reason to skip it; the falls are the reason people go. It is a reason not to book it on a trip of two or three days, where it will use the day that another activity needed, and not to book it the morning after a late aurora night.

The trail is harder than the tour pages say

The operators call the frozen waterfall hike moderate, or moderately challenging. Metsähallitus, which runs the trail past the three largest frozen falls, grades it hard, says it is not maintained in winter, and warns that it is dangerously slippery and that ice grippers are needed. It also climbs to the tops of cliffs and down to the bottom of the canyon.

Both descriptions can be honest: a guide sets a pace and chooses the line, and a fit adult with grips will find it manageable. But the difference is the thing to plan around. Two of the tours here list grips in the price, and the others do not mention them. Ask before booking, and if the answer is no, buy or borrow a pair rather than doing this in ordinary boots.

Who should not go

The minimum ages published are eight and ten, and one operator states none. The age limit is the floor, not the test: a child who is unsteady on ice or tires on hills will find a few kilometres of icy up and down hard going, whatever their age. One operator warns anyone with a heart complaint or serious medical condition against the tour, and another asks for good general fitness. Take both seriously.

When the ice is at its best

One operator says the falls are best from December to March, when they are fully frozen. The tours that publish a season start in November or December and run into April, so an early- or late-season booking may find the ice smaller than in the photographs.

Which to book

For the ice itself: ToTheNorth, or Nordic Odyssey if everyone is ten or older. They are the two that put grips in the price.

With an eight- or nine-year-old: Wild About Lapland, which lends overalls and boots and serves lunch by a fire, or Beyond Arctic for a shorter walk and photographs of the family.

On a budget: Arctic GM, the cheapest seat when we read the listings, with overalls lent. Bring grips of your own.

From Kemijärvi, Posio or Ruka

Rovaniemi Insider runs the same kind of day from Kemijärvi, meeting at the Academy Hotel, with winter gear in the price. The trips that the booking platforms file under Posio pick up in Rovaniemi, so staying in Posio does not shorten the ride unless you drive to the trail yourself. We found no trip leaving from Ruka on either platform: the Ruka listing that GetYourGuide used to carry no longer exists. From Ruka, the canyon means a hire car or a Rovaniemi departure.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we go on our own instead of on a tour?

You can, with a car and the right kit. Metsähallitus says the waterfall trail usually stays open through the winter because snowshoers keep the path clear, but it is not maintained in winter, it is dangerously slippery and ice grippers are needed. The tours that give a drive time put it at about an hour and a half each way from Rovaniemi. Without a car, grips and someone confident on icy slopes, a guided tour is the sensible way to go.

What facilities are there on the trail?

Very few, which matters on a long day. Metsähallitus lists a campfire site and a dry toilet, for which you should bring your own toilet paper, but no water point and no waste bins, so everything you bring in has to come out with you. It asks visitors to check for wildfire warnings before lighting a fire. On a tour the guide handles the fire and the food; walking on your own, bring drinks and a flask.

What if we have to cancel?

It depends on where you book as much as on whom. Every platform listing on this page can be cancelled free of charge until 24 hours before, Wild About Lapland's included. Booked on its own site, the same trip at the same price carries a fee of ten per cent from booking, half within seven days and everything in the last day, and Nordic Odyssey's own terms are similar. For a full-day trip booked around a forecast, the free-cancellation route has real value.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.

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