Oulanka National Park

城市概覽

The park lies adjacent to Paanajärvi National Park across the border, but crossing, or even approaching the border, requires special permits.

History

Landscape Oulanka has several quite large rivers, the most important being the Oulanka river. The altitude differences are small, but there are some rocks and small hills above the rivers, which offer great views.

Flora and fauna

Climate The national park lies at the Arctic circle, and the weather here is such. Winters are long and cold, with the last snow disappearing in June. Average maximum snow depth is 85 cm, minimum recorded temperature −46 °C (−51 °F). There might also be too much water in the rivers in spring, which will make some parts of the trail hard to pass. In summer, the weather is reasonable and the trails are easily passable. As such, summer is the best time to hike, but is also possible to go hike in late spring (end of May), where you will have the beautiful melting landscape just for yourself, or in early to mid autumn, when the mosquitoes are gone and the leaves are changing colours. Nights do not really take place here from May to August, while days are extremely short around December.

如何抵達

By car Getting in by car is easy, there are good roads leading to the starting points of all hiking trails, such as Ruka, Oulanka Visitor Centre, Hautajärvi or Juuma. It is possible to park for free at these places. The problem is that these places are (same as the park) very far from all main Finnish cities, which will make driving costly and tiring. Also, most of the hiking trails are from point A to B, so you will most likely have to use a bus or taxi to get back to your car.

By train and bus The national park is far from transportation hubs. To get to Kuusamo from southern Finland, the most comfortable option is an overnight train to Oulu or Kemijärvi and a coach onwards to Kuusamo (€26.50, €20 if you manage to find online discount fares). From Kuusamo there is (sparse) transport to Ruka, the visitor centre and some trailheads. As Ruka is a ski resort, there may also be dedicated transport to there, at least in winter. From Ruka you can hike Karhunkierros to Oulanka. There is helpful English speaking staff at the Kuusamo bus station. Oulanka is on the Kuusamo–Salla road (road 950); coming from Kemijärvi you might be able to transfer from a bus to Kuusamo to a bus to Salla. The Ristikallio and Hautajärvi trailheads are by this road, but the visitor centre and Juuma are 13 km away by minor roads (junction at Käylä). There is a dial-a-ride service available from Ruka to Oulangan luontokeskus and Kiutaköngäs. It can be ordered using the Matkahuolto Trip Planner and Tickets mobile app. The passenger can pick up the ride up to five days. The passenger can check availability at any time, and secure the ride as well as the seat only by ordering transportation. The app always shows the final binding price before confirming the order. Getting to the trailheads of Karhunkierros by bus is possible. From Kuusamo, there are local buses called "Karhunkierros bus" from Kuusamo bus station to Hautajärvi, Ruka and Juuma in June–August. Outside of this period, the northernmos

當地交通

Paper maps should be available in major book and outdoor stores, in the visitor centre, in Customer Service Karhuntassu in Kuusamo and probably at the tourist information in Kuusamo and at Ruka info. They can also be bought on the net from Karttakeskus and delivered by mail (check whether addresses abroad are serviced). There are several map alternatives, with Karhunkierros Trail Waterproof Outdoor Map 1:50,000/1:25,000 probably the best, if it covers the area of your visit and your interests. Metsähallitus has an online map, with trails and services marked. Also OpenStreetMap covers the area, and there are numerous apps to use that map. The best of these seems to be mapy.cz, which offers to download maps for offline mode and where the trails are very visibly marked (do not count on having 3G coverage on the trail!). All the trails and huts can be found in the Oulanka brouchure, but this is rather a scheme than a real map.

1 Oulanka Visitor Centre (Oulangan luontokeskus), ☏ +358 20-639-6850, [email protected]. Daily in season, Tu–Sa off season. Oulanka visitor centre is located in the park, in the middle of Karhukierros trail, and is reachable by car. There is a restaurant, a small exhibition about the park, some equipment for rent, and most of all, helpful English speaking staff. They can help you plan your stay in Oulanka national park if you contact them by email or phone. The visitor centre and the nearby 100 m Könkään kuohu trail to the Kiutaköngäs Rapids are accessible by wheelchair. Free; ordered guided tours €50/group/hr. (updated Oct 2018)

By foot Hiking is the main option to get anywhere in the park except the starting points of the hiking trails. There is one main hiking trail, (Iso) Karhunkierros, leading 80 km from Hautajärvi to Ruka, and numerous branch trails, leading to starting points on the road. There are also some trails isolated from Karhunkierros, mostly day trip trails. The 17-km Keroharju route leads through the backwoods from 2 Niitselys

必看景點

1 Kiutaköngäs. Huge red rocks rising above rapids of Oulanka river. Near to the Oulanka visitor centre and a road, so no need to sleep in a wilderness hut if you want to see this place. Accessible by wheelchair. (updated Oct 2018) 2 Oulanka canyon. A place where the Oulanka river canyon ends. You can see the whole canyon from a tall cable stayed bridge. (updated Oct 2018) 3 Lookout above Taivalköngäs. A place with beautiful view above Taivalköngäs autiotupa. (updated Oct 2018) 4 Jyrävä waterfall. A nice waterfall on Pieni Karhunkierros trail. (updated Oct 2018)

體驗活動

Hike. Hiking is probably the most popular thing to do in Oulanka National Park, as the well known and scenic Karhunkierros hiking trail is located here. There are actually several ways to do it, varying in length and difficulty. Two short trails are even accessible by wheelchair. Iso Karhunkierros – the longest trail, going 80 km from Hautajärvi to Ruka (halfway between the park and Kuusamo). This is done mostly in three or four nights, and includes climbing Valtavaara hill by Ruka. If hiking in late spring, you might want to start the hike at Rustikalio parking area and finish it in Juuma, as no buses are going to Hautajärvi and there is too much snow on Valtavaara. Note that first wilderness hut is 15 km walking from Hautajärvi. If needed, you can sleep in more conveniently located lean-to shelters, which do not have fireplaces and are less comfortable. See also UKK trail#Karhunkierros. Pieni Karhunkierros – the "small Karhunkierros" trail, a 12 km long circular route from Juuma. Easily doable in one day, features some of the most beautiful places of Oulanka National Park, such as Jyrävä waterfall, but you will miss some others. Keroharjun kuiskaus – a 17 km long one day trail which includes a cable boat. Not connected to Karhu