Karhunkierros (Finnish for ''Bear's Round'') is a hiking trail that stretches from Salla to

Kuusamo Kuusamo ( sme, Guossán; smn, Kuáccám) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...

in north-eastern Finland. The route was first marked in 1955, and has since become the most popular hiking trail in Finland, attracting some 15,000 hikers every year, mainly over the high season lasting from mid-July to late September. The trail is approximately long, and runs for the most of its length within the

Oulanka National Park Oulanka National Park ( fi, Oulangan kansallispuisto) is a national park in the Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland regions of Finland, covering . The park was established in 1956 and was expanded in 1982 and 1989. It borders the Paanajärvi Nati ...

Route

The trail has two main starting points. The paths starting at

Hautajärvi Hautajärvi (also Hautajarvi, Hautajaervi, Hautakyla, Hautakylä, Khautajarvi, and Хаутаярви) is a village in southeast Lapland, Finland, near the border with the Republic of Karelia and the Murmansk Oblast of the Russian Federation. Hau ...

and at Ristikallio converge at Taivalköngäs, from where the trail continues along the

Oulanka Oulanka National Park ( fi, Oulangan kansallispuisto) is a national park in the Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland regions of Finland, covering . The park was established in 1956 and was expanded in 1982 and 1989. It borders the Paanajärvi Natio ...

and Kitka rivers towards Rukatunturi fell. Starting from Hautajärvi makes the total length of the trail 80 kilometres, while the Ristikallio variant is some 9 km shorter. The route is marked with orange paint markings in trees and rocks. It is also perfectly possible to hike the route in the opposite direction, starting from Rukatunturi, but most people prefer the aforementioned ways. Also of note is the Pieni Karhunkierros, or Little Bear's Round, a circular day trip trail of that partly shares the route of Karhunkierros proper.

Accommodation

Along the trail there are eight wilderness huts that are open and free to use for every visitor to spend a night in, plus two day trip huts for shorter breaks. In addition there are several campfire sites and lean-to shelters, and a more fully equipped camping ground.Outdoors.fi – Services along the Karhunkierros trail
Camping near huts and outside the designated areas is mainly permitted under

Everyman's right The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness ...

References

External links

Karhunkierros at Outdoors.fi
{{coord, 66.163, N, 29.124, E, display=title, source:dewiki Kuusamo Salla Hiking trails in Finland Geography of North Ostrobothnia Tourist attractions in North Ostrobothnia