Popular Hetta Bike Trails

One of our favourite loops, a summer route marked with blue signs and not recommended in winter. It follows a skyline trail north of Hetta and returns beside a spectacular gorge, at its most rugged along the canyon slopes above Lake Pahtajarvi. Wetlands en route grow an abundance of Globe Flowers and Wood Crane's-bills, and despite duckboards you will still need waterproof hiking boots.

The Sissanki hut, between Sissanginselka and Paljasselka, can be rented for overnight stays, and the Narpisto lean-to shelter sits at the halfway point.

A guide favourite, this beautiful 20km ridge trail starts c. 4km from the far end of Hetta and is seldom discovered by visitors. The ridge paths crisscross and reconverge, so you cannot get lost, with a river and the Jyypravaara Fells to the north and the stunning National Park fells across a lake to the south. Possible in winter for the adventurous, and normally offered as a 2-hour summer product or a half-day hike to the far end of the ridge.

The 26km Hetta-Nakkala Trail is marked with tall green poles topped by a white-red cross, part of an old postal route between Hetta, Nakkala, Poyrisjarvi and Kalkujarvi, and more varied than 'old postal route' suggests. Some sections are too rocky and technical for most riders, and a few cross large bogs with or without rideable boardwalks, so be prepared for wet feet. It is easier biked from Hetta to Nakkala, and the open wilderness hut Nakkalan Valitupa lies c. 14km from Hetta.

The moderate 24km Leppajarvi-Kultima trail follows an old semi-marked path through mostly lichen-filled dry birch forest, with a few damp unboarded sections, so expect wet feet. There is also a 28km Palojoki-Suonttajarvi-Muotkajarvi loop, and a longer, more technical journey to the remote wilderness cabin at Salvasjarvi, which crosses the Norwegian border repeatedly, so technically you should carry your passport.

For a few weeks each Spring, the trails and all of the surrounding snow solidify. This is an unbelievable time for wilderness fatbiking, opening up the routes in our wilderness biking sections as well as those closer to Hetta itself.