23 August 2019, by Oana Badiu
One of the best hikes in Lapland, Saana hiking trail is an easy and rewarding hike, with typical Lappish landscape, that includes lakes and small, rounded mountains.
Distance: 4 km one way (8 km in total)
Difficulty: Easy - Medium
Duration: 4 hours (including taking lots of pictures)
Saana fell is located in Finland's far North Lapland, on the border with Norway and Sweden, next to lake Kilpisjärvi and the Sami village with the same name.
Saana hiking trail starts from Kilpisjärvi Retkeilykeskus (Kilpisjärvi's Hiking Center), so naturally, this is the best place to stay as well. We rented out a cottage from Kilpisjärvi Retkeilykeskus and we weren't disappointed. The cottage had 2 beds (one of them for 2 people), a kitchen with a stove, microwave, dishes and a coffee maker and a bathroom with warm water. The cottage doesn't come by default with bed linen, nor towels. You would need to order those separately. You can book a cottage from booking.com.
I would say this is an easy hike. The mountains in Finland are very small and round, so there aren't really any difficult hikes around here.
The trail is simple to follow and I would split it into 4 parts. First the trail goes through an unusual looking forest and there are some wooden planks to help you. The second part is a bit more demanding and a bit steeper, but nothing to be concerned about. When we went there, they were building stairs to overcome this part, however the stairs weren't yet ready. They looked almost complete, so I am sure that they will be finished soon. The bad thing about this second part of the trail was that the main path very eroded, so lots of sand. Luckily you could get a good grip if you steer slightly from the path and go on on the grass next to it. This is not a problem when you go up, but it might be a bit challenging when come down.
The third part consists of big, rocky terrain that is really grippy and easy to hike on. You may encounter some reindeers here, so be ready with your camera.
If you are a photographer I suggest you bring a telephoto lens with you to this hike because the mountain view from this trail is amazing! I wouldn't be able to get the shot below without my 400 mm lens.
There are beautiful views opening up at the end of third part of the trail, once you reach higher grounds.
The last part of the hike is almost an easy long walk to the summit. Once you reach the summit you'll see Saanajärvi (Saana lake) and you can put your name in the Saana summit box.
Saana hiking trail is one of the most beautiful hiking trails in Finland and you can see all three countries from here: Finland, Sweden and Norway. During summer time it never really gets dark, so you can admire the midnight sun from the summit. While in Lapland during summer, I advice that you sleep during the day and hike during the night. This way you get to enjoy the beautiful rays of sun over the Lappish mountains!
