Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
THE LAPONIA WORLD HERITAGE AREA
“It is one of the last and unquestionably largest and best preserved examples of an area of
transhumance, involving summer grazing by large reindeer herds”, said the UNESCO World
Heritage Committee when they established
Laponia
as a
heritage area
in 1996. Covering a
vast area of 9400 square kilometres, including the Padjelanta, Sarek and Stora Sjöfallet
national
parks
, Laponia is the home and workplace of Forest and Mountain
Sámi
families from seven
different villages, who still tend their reindeer here much as their ancestors did in prehistoric
times. The Forest
Sámi
move with their herds within the forests and the Mountain
Sámi
follow
their animals from the lichen-rich forests, where they spend the winter, up to the tree line by the
time spring comes, then on into the mountains for summer; in August they start making their
way down. Come September, many animals will be slaughtered either at the
corrals
in Ruokto,
on the road between Porjus and Kebnats, or at highland corrals between Ritsem and Sitasjaure.
expanse of forest and mountains, where roads and human habitation are the exception
rather than the norm.
Reindeer
are a common sight, as the parks are their breeding
grounds and summer pasture, and
Sámi
settlements are dotted throughout the region
- notably at
Ritsem
and
Vaisaluokta
.
The hiking trails in the five
national parks
(
W
jallen.nu) here range in difficulty from
moderately challenging to a positive assault course. Four of the parks lie about 120km
northwest of Gällivare in the tract of Swedish wilderness edging Norway, whereas easy
Muddus
national park lies between Gällivare and Jokkmokk. The low fells, large lakes
and moors of
Padjelanta
,
Stora Sjöfallet
and
Abisko
(see p.347) parks act as the
eyebrows to the sheer face of the mountainous and inhospitable
Sarek
park. For
coverage of the Kungsleden hiking trail, see p.343.
Muddus national park
Recommended for novice hikers,
Muddus national park
is a 500-square-kilometre
pine-forested and marshland park between Jokkmokk and Gällivare, hemmed in by the
Inlandsbanan on one side and the train line from Luleå to Gällivare on the other.
Muddus is home to bears, lynx, martens, weasels, hares, elk and (in summer), also
reindeer; among birds, the whooper swan is one of the most common sights. The terrain
here is gently undulating, consisting of bog and forest, though there are clefts and gorges
in the southern stretches. The park's western edges are skirted by Route 45; the easiest
approach is to leave the highway at
Liggadammen
(there are also buses here from
Gällivare) and then follow the small road to
Skaite
, where an easy hiking
trail
begins;
two suggested routes are Skaite-Muddusfallet-Måskoskårså-Skaite (24km) or Skaite-
Muddueluobbal-Manson-Skaite (44km). There are cabins along the trail (April-Sept; at
other times the keys can be obtained from Jokkmokk and Gällivare tourist offices), and
a campsite at Muddus Falls. There are no outlets for buying food or provisions en route.
Padjelanta
Padjelanta
is the largest of Sweden's national parks; its name comes from
Sámi
and
means “the higher country”, an apt description for this plateau that lies almost
exclusively above the tree line. The
Padjelanta trail
(150km) runs from
Vaisaluokta
through the
Laponia World Heritage Area
(see box above) south to
Kvikkjokk
, and is
suited to inexperienced walkers - allow at least a week to finish it.
Stora Sjöfallet
You can get to Vaisaluokta by taking a
bus
from Gällivare to Ritsem, which will take
you through the beautiful
Stora Sjöfallet
national park with its luxuriant forests and