Padjelanta National Park

Deep in the mountains you’ll find Padjelanta National Park, the largest National Park in Sweden and also part of the Laponia World Heritage Site. Badjelánnda is Sami and means “the higher country”. Bordered by high alpine peaks and large mountain lakes lies this, vast area with a vibrant Sami cultural landscape.

Flower paradise and Sweden’s point of inaccessibility

Padjelanta National Park is known for its rich flora and this really is the Swedish mountain paradise for botanists. The area around the great lakes has attracted flower lovers for several hundred years, including Carl von Linné. The secret is the limestone-rich bedrock in combination with long-term reindeer grazing, which created the perfect conditions for a rich mountain flora. Mountain avens, glacier buttercup and Lapland rosebay grow side by side with more unusual plants such as arenaria humifusa, red-tipped lousewort and Robbins’ cinquefoil. Many animals, and above all birds thrive in Padjelanta National Park. Here you can look for bird species that thrive in a mountain landscape, in moors and in the lakes. In addition to reindeer, there are also moose, wolverines, arctic foxes and lemmings.

The secret is the limestone-rich bedrock in combination with long-term reindeer grazing, which created the perfect conditions for a rich mountain flora.

In Padjelanta National Park you actually find the place in Sweden that is farthest from civilization and and roads. The point of inaccessibility is at Lake Rissájávrre, which borders the Sarek National Park.

The Sami community and the reindeer’s summer grazing land

For millennia, Padjelanta has been an important Sami area. Even so, few traces of civilization are visible in these mountains, only those that a trained eye can detect. Old reindeer grazing areas, settlements and hearths tell of a place where the Sami gathered throughout history. Even nowadays, the reindeer are migrating up to Padjelanta National Park, to there summer grazing areas on the vast, flourishing moors.

The Sami communities of Tuorpon, Jåhkågaska tjiellde and Sirges gather their reindeer for calf marking during the bright summer nights. During the winter, there is too much snow here for the reindeer to graze, so they wander down into the woodland in the east. There are several villages with summer residences, the largest in Staloluokta but also in Arasluokta, Vassténjávrre, Sáluhávrre and Guvtjávrre. If you’re lucky, you can buy fresh or smoked fish here and gahkkú, freshly baked bread.”

Easy hiked gem

If you want to hike in summer, the 160 kilometer long Padjelanta trail stretches through the National Park. The Nordkalott trail also has part of its route here. The Padjelanta trail is a marked summer trail with simple overnight cabins after each hike. Here you can sleep and usually stock up on the most necessary things.

In winter, the cabins are closed, there is only one open emergency cabin with six beds.

In winter, the cabins are closed, there is only one open emergency cabin with six beds. Padjelanta National Park is therefore a fantastic area for beginner hikers in the summer, with easily accessible trails. But in winter, much more mountain experience is required as there is no marked winter trail. The weather changes just as easily here as in Sarek and you have to carry all the equipment you need with you.

The best time to go

If you want to experience Padjelanta National Park during winter, it is suitable during March and April. Keep in mind that the Padjelanta trail is only a marked summer trail – so there is no winter trail in the area. In summer, you have the best conditions from the beginning of July to the first week of September. If you are looking for both breathtakingly beautiful mountain nature and want to learn about Sami culture, then a trip to Padjelanta National Park is for you.

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