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Snowshoeing in Salla: which of the three

Thick columns of blue-white icicles hanging from a rock face over snow

Illustration photo: a frozen waterfall, not from the Salla trips.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With children, take the Arctic snowshoe walk: it is easy, lends clothing, includes lunch and ice fishing, and children from three pay half. For a view and some effort, take the national park walk to the summit of Isopyhätunturi, which includes transport. Choose the evening aurora walk only as an aurora tour, since the walking is the easy part.

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 snowshoe walkNational park walkAurora walk
Price €92 €100 €92
Children 3–12 Half price Not stated Half price
Duration About 4 h 3–4 h About 3 h
Effort Easy, 3–4 km Intermediate, 5 km Easy
Food Lunch Sandwich and juice Not stated
Season 1 Dec – 15 Apr 1 Jan – 15 Mar 1 Dec – 31 Mar

Only the price is marked, as arithmetic, and two walks tie. The dearer walk includes transport to the national park, which the other two do not mention.

Where these figures come from
  • Arctic snowshoe walk: An easy walk of three or four kilometres to an ice wall, with ice fishing and lunch in a Lappish hut.
  • National park walk: A five-kilometre climb to the summit of Isopyhätunturi in Salla National Park, with a sandwich and warm juice.
  • Aurora walk: An easy evening walk to a dark, quiet spot in the forest, with tips for photographing the aurora.

The guided snowshoe walks we found in Salla are all sold by Salla Wilderness Park, from its base on Poropuistontie in the village.

The easy one, with lunch

The Arctic snowshoe walk goes at your own pace for three or four kilometres of easy terrain to an ice wall, with ice fishing on the way and lunch and hot drinks in a Lappish hut. The park lends overalls, safari boots and mittens, and children from three to twelve pay half, though only with an adult.1

The climb, in the national park

The national park walk drives you into Salla National Park and climbs to the summit of Isopyhätunturi, five kilometres in all, which the park grades intermediate and suited to walkers in normal condition. Transport, snowshoes, a sandwich and warm juice are included; the page says nothing about clothing or a child price, and the walk runs only from January to mid-March.2

After dark

The aurora walk heads for a dark, quiet spot in the forest, where the guide gives tips on photographing the aurora if it appears. It is graded easy, lends the same clothing and charges children half.3 The best northern lights tour in Salla compares it with the other ways to look for the aurora there.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

How late can we book?

On the Arctic and aurora walks, the park asks for bookings by four in the afternoon on the day before the walk. That makes a same-day decision impossible, so if the weather forecast is what you are waiting for, decide the evening before, and ask whether the four-person minimum has been reached before you plan the rest of the day around it.

What if not enough people book?

Each walk runs with at least four participants. The pages we read do not say what happens to a booking when fewer sign up, so if you are two, ask the park when you book whether it will run, offer another date or refund you, and ask again the day before.

Is there anything nearer Kemijärvi?

Kemijärvi, about fifty minutes away, has no guided snowshoe walk on the pages we read; the nearest thing sold there is a trip on sliding snowshoes, which are short skis with climbing skins. For walking on snowshoes, Salla's park is the one to drive to.

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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