Oulanka National Park

This issue’s “Traveller Story” by Bart Braafhart invites you on a fabulous journey to the land of a thousand lakes, midnight sun and splendid waterfalls: Oulanka National Park.

In the land of Aurora Borealis, directly on the Arctic Circle in the Finnish Lapland, you can set out for the Bear’s Ring, the famous hiking trail, which leads you through PAN Park Oulanka.

The Bear’s Ring offers an 80 km long tour, but you can also choose to hike shorter and easier trails. After a nice cup of coffee with traditional pulla, a Finnish cake, we decided to try a route which seemed to be easily manageable: we set out for a visit to the Kiutaköngäs waterfall. At the beginning of the path to Kiutaköngäs there is a visitor center with an impressive nature exhibition. Nice detail: the Bear’s Ring trail goes through the visitor center!

From the parking place it is around 1,5 km to walk up to the waterfall. There is a very convenient path with wooden stairs making the walk upwards easier for visitors. After a couple of hundred meters we stop for a short rest, and our gaze is captivated by the peace and beauty of the sight. Foaming rapids find their way around a small island and even an otter swims in the river. So far from the familiar noises of civilized life, we can hear the roaring of the waters below us. Coming around the corner we can see red dolomite rocks where the water seems to disappear in a narrow corridor.

Crossing a tiny wooden bridge we are coming closer to the canyon where the water is flushing through with enormous power. The canyon with a high and red rocky wall blinking in the sunshine, green spruces on the edge, the sound of the powerful water stream; the power and intactness of nature fill us with awe. For several minutes we are just standing and listening - beautiful! The wild and fierce motion of the waters is rapidly breaking and when reaching the end of the canyon, the river again seems to give the impression of a peaceful lake... marvelous contrast, as if it were nature’s magic in this fabulous natural setting!

Our next destination is the Small Bear’s Ring, which takes a total of 12 km hiking. Even though the path is well prepared, good hiking shoes are a must. Soon we face the first ‘hanging bridge’ and, what luck, we take a glimpse of a rafting group taking the first barrier successfully.

We continue our journey to the Myllykoski, a renovated water mill from which there is a splendid view to the rapids. From then on we decide to pull ourselves together and walk a few more hundreds of stairs upwards - which we soon regret but it’s too late to turn back now. Fortunately, we discover a new base camp where it is also possible to drink and eat a small snack. At the rear side of this building there is even a terrace with a beautiful view over the forest. Tired but happy we promise to come back and try the whole of the Big Bear’s Ring.

by Bart Braafhart