Urho Kekkonen National Park ( fi, Urho Kekkosen kansallispuisto, se, Urho Kekkonen álbmotmeahcci) is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in Lapland, Finland, situated in area of municipalities of

Savukoski Savukoski ( sme, Suovvaguoika, smn, Suovâkuoškâ, sms, Suõvvkuõškk) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...

Sodankylä Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows nea ...

and

Inari Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...

. Established in 1983 and covering , it is one of Finland's largest protected areas. It is named after

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

, late

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of Finland. The Suomujoki river flows through the northern parts of the diverse park. The marked paths in its western part are an easy destination even for the inexperienced backpacker, whereas the wilderness is good for long and demanding trips. Most trips to Urho Kekkonen National Park are started from the Kiilopää

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

center, the Aittajärvi lake along the Suomujoki river, or Raja-Jooseppi, and backpackers usually end up nearby the

Saariselkä Saariselkä ( Inari Sami: ''Suolluščielgi,'' se, Suoločielgi, literally ''islandback'') is a fell area in Lapland, northern Finland. It is located in the Inari, Savukoski and Sodankylä municipalities. The highest point is high Mt Sokusti. ...

fell line, for instance on the top of its highest fell, Sokosti.

Reindeer herding Reindeer herding is when reindeer are herded by people in a limited area. Currently, reindeer are the only semi-domesticated animal which naturally belongs to the North. Reindeer herding is conducted in nine countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Rus ...

is still a common livelihood in the area. File:Urho Kekkonen national park.JPG, Trek from Kiilopää in stereoscopic anaglyph File:Urho Kekkonen national park, Kiilopää.JPG, Trek from Kiilopää in stereoscopic anaglyph

References

External links

* *
Outdoors.fi – Urho Kekkonen National Park

Visual day-by-day narrative of a trail crossing the national park
National parks of Finland Protected areas of the Arctic Protected areas established in 1983 Geography of Lapland (Finland) Tourist attractions in Lapland (Finland) Inari, Finland Savukoski Sodankylä Urho Kekkonen {{Europe-protected-area-stub

See also

References

External links