PADJELANTA TRAIL
INTRO
The Padjelantaleden, or Padjelanta Trail, is an epic 85-mile (137-km) thru-hike in northern Sweden. It goes through the eponymous Padjelanta National Park, Sweden’s largest national park and a part of the Laponia World Heritage Site. The trail is beautiful, with rolling hills, dark blue lakes, dramatic peaks and valleys, and rich vegetation. In all our travels, this landscape remains one of the most awe-inspiring.
The trail begins and ends in Kvikkjokk and Ritsem, with hikers walking both ways (or starting in the middle via helicopter ride, discussed below). Be prepared for rain and mosquitoes — it rained on us every single day, and we saw more mosquitoes than my brain could comprehend.
Three Indigenous Sámi communities use the land now called Padjelanta National Park for summer reindeer foraging, so if you are lucky, you may be able to see some reindeer in the park! Also, as a visiting hiker, remember that this land has been the Sámi people's well before the national park or modern conservation policy existed. We are by no means experts, and highly encourage everyone visiting this park — and all those in the Laponia World Heritage site — to learn more about their culture, as well as ways you can support the Sámi people with your visit to their homelands. To get you started, we’d recommend the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs’ page on the Sámi people, as well as the Swedish government’s guidance on responsible tourism when visiting Sámi land.
The Padjelanta Trail is an 85-mile thru-hike north of the Arctic Circle, located in Laponia World Heritage Site
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Duration: if you're hiking the whole trail, plan for 7-10 days, depending on how much you want to hike each day. Since you can camp anywhere along the trail, you do have flexibility to set your own mileage each day. If you're planning to use the helicopter shuttle and hike half the trail, plan for 4-7 days.
When to go: July to September are the best months to hike the Padjelantaleden. This is during the Swedish summer under the famous midnight sun — the sun didn’t set the whole time we were on the trail! During the dark, freezing, arctic winter, the trail is unmarked and unmaintained, and the shoulder seasons can have harsher weather too. Only the most adventurous (and experienced) of travelers opt to take on the trail on cross country skis during these seasons.
Accommodations + facilities: Thanks to Sweden's Freedom to Roam, you can camp anywhere along the trail for free. However, many people opt to stay in or camp at the mountain hut sites along the trail. These are marked on our map below. The mountain huts have bunk rooms, a drying room, and a kitchen, as well as outdoor toilets. If you camp, you can still use the site's toilets for free, but you do have to pay if you want to use the kitchen and drying rooms. Each site is run by a campground host who often sell fresh bread, smoked fish, dried reindeer, and other provisions/gear. There are no showers at the sites, but there are shelters set up by the nearby river where you can fill up buckets and bathe (also free — be sure to bring biodegradable soap).
Food + water: Pack in as much food as you can from Gällivare or Jokkmokk. Smoked and dried reindeer steak is a popular local snack in the region, which we found delicious with soft cheese and bread. There are also STF mountain shops in Ritsem (the northern terminus of the trail) and Såmmarlappa (one of the mountain hut sites), where you can buy provisions for your hike (cash only as far as we know). Also not to be missed was the fresh-baked bread and smoked Arctic char sold by the camp hosts, though these were not always available. Although pricey and limited, other basic provisions are for sale along the trail (cash only). You can fill up water from any running water in the park, and the campsites also have easy taps/pipes from upriver to fill up bottles.
Guide or no guide: No guide is needed (and we didn't meet any guided group on our hike) — though I would recommend having some amount of backpacking experience before you take this on. The trail is well-marked, so previous backcountry navigation experience is not necessarily needed.
Difficulty: This trail is moderate in difficulty. Many guides describe it as a beginner backcountry trail, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Between bad weather, Jeremy nursing an injury, more mosquitos than we could possibly imagine, and lots of hills, this remains one of the harder treks we've done. The hiking itself isn’t necessarily that challenging, but the conditions can make it mentally tough.
Make sure you have: BUG SPRAY! I cannot emphasize that enough. And all things rain gear — rain jacket, rain pants, a good pack cover (take it from me, you don't want it leaking), Merino socks, and a good, sturdy tent that won’t leak or buckle from wind.
Primary costs: Our major costs (not including food) for the Padjelantaleden trek were as follows:
Use of mountain hut facilities: 20-30 USD (200-300 SEK) per person per day. An optional cost for tent campers, this includes the use of a mountain hut’s kitchen and drying room. Sounds not so necessary, but becomes quite tempting after a few days of cold rain and unrelenting mosquitos (we opted to use the facilities at one particularly bug- and precipitation-forward site.
Accommodations: free! We brought our own tent, and there are no fees for camping. If you want to stay in the bunk rooms instead of camping, expect to pay about 40-50 USD (400-500 SEK) per person per night.
Bus from Gällivare to Ritsem (start of hike): 58.42 USD (~620 SEK) per person
Helicopter shuttle from Ritsem to Stáloluokta: 162 USD (~1700 SEK) per person — note that this is OPTIONAL based on which route you select. Read below under “Route Options” for further info.
Bus from Ritsem to Gällivare (end of hike): 58.42 USD (~620 SEK) per person
ROUTE OPTIONS
Since hikers can walk the trail both ways, as well as take a helicopter to or from the Stáloluokta midpoint, you can essentially hike the Padjelanta Trail in six different ways:
Full trail, north to south: hike from Ritsem to Kvikkjokk (pink + purple)
Full trail, south to north: hike from Kvikkjokk to Ritsem (purple + pink)
Half trail, midpoint to north: start your hike with the helicopter ride from Ritsem or Kvikkjokk to Stáloluokta, then hike from Stáloluokta to Ritsem (yellow + pink)
Half trail, midpoint to south: start your hike with the helicopter ride from Ritsem or Kvikkjokk to Stáloluokta, then hike from Stáloluokta to Kvikkjokk (yellow + purple)
Half trail, north to midpoint: hike from Ritsem to Stáloluokta, then end your hike with the helicopter ride from Stáloluokta to Ritsem or Kvikkjokk (pink + yellow)
Half trail, south to midpoint: hike from Kvikkjokk to Stáloluokta, then end your hike with the helicopter ride from Stáloluokta to Ritsem or Kvikkjokk (purple + yellow)
The interactive map to the right shows the various route options, as well as the designated mountain hut sites. Zoom in to explore the route and transit options, including the distance between each of the hut sites!
GETTING THERE
The Padjelantaleden is located way, way north in Swedish Lapland where few Swedes even venture. So, getting to the trail is where it gets tricky (or at least time-consuming). As described above, the trail begins and ends in Kvikkjokk and Ritsem — hikers can walk either way.
If starting in Ritsem, take a bus from Gällivare. Then, take a boat from Ritsem to Akka across the lake to begin your hike (no need to pre-book the boat, you can get a ticket on arrival).
If starting from Kvikkjokk, take a bus from Jokkmokk. Then, take a boat from Kvikkjokk down the river to begin your hike (no need to pre-book the boat, you can get a ticket on arrival).
Both Gällivare and Jokkmokk are accessible from other regions of Sweden by train and bus (see more info on sj.se, the website for Sweden’s national rail operator). The nearest airport is Kiruna, though we opted to fly into Stockholm and take a night train to the north.
Another option for the beginner, adventurous, or thicker-walleted backpacker is taking a helicopter to begin or end your trek in order to hike either the northern or southern half of the trail. There is a scheduled helicopter service from Kvikkjokk and Ritsem to the midpoint of the hike, Stáloluokta through Fiskflyg. Many people opt to do a shorter version of the trail by flying to or from Stáloluokta. We did this (mainly due to Jeremy's injury), and while it is PRICEY, it was an incredibly beautiful experience — an I-teared-up-in-the-glory-of-the-moment kind of beautiful.
Last updated: 25 July 2022
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