Snowmobiling in Enontekiö

Enontekiö is one of the favourite snowmobile destinations for Norwegians - and they have the whole of Scandinavia to choose from! The snowmobile is a great way to travel when you need to get around swiftly. Go on your own, or travel with a local guide.

From the Hetta Area it is possible to snowmobile in various directions along snowmobile routes. The easiest way to set off on a route is to go to Lake Ounasjärvi and to join the long track that traverses the lake from east to west. At the western end you can connect to the Victoria route which leads, via Palojoensuu, to the western Enontekiö trails and, ultimately, to Kilpisjärvi. To the east, you can continue on via trials to Kittilä via Vuontisjärvi, Peltovuoma and Nunnanen or turn just before Vuontisjärvi towards Raattama.

You can also turn off the lake near the village of Hetta to southern tracks which lead to Pyhäkero open wilderness hut and ultimately to Muonio. If you choose to go north there are two different track options which connect at Lake Palojärvi. From there, there are trails which cross the tundra towards Kilpisjärvi and others which go north to Kautokeino and Norway.

If you snowmobile along snowmobile tracks around Hetta Area or on the Victoria route, no permit is needed. However, snowmobiling is not permitted within the boundaries of the National Park and visitors planning to snowmobile from Hetta across the tundra and wilderness areas to Kilpisjärvi or Karasuando must purchase a Metsähallitus snowmobile permit from the Fell Lapland Nature Centre as the maintenance of the track between Palojärvi and Kilpisjärvi (by Metsähallitus) is funded by permits.

The Hetta-Kilpisjärvi snowmobile track runs through Tarvantovaara Wilderness Area and the Syväjärvi-Kaaresuvanto snowmobile track turns off of the Hetta-Kilpisjärvi one.

Enontekiö's tracks in the area are primarily maintained by the municipality of Enontekiö (www.enontekio.fi) but riding them is at your own risk. Snowmobiles can be rented in a number of places in Hetta, including via the ski centre, hotels, garages, etc.

When in Kilpisjärvi, you may visit the Three Nations’ Border Point via the Victoria Route, (ie for free) but you need to pay for a permit to snowmobile on other tracks in this area (www.eraluvat.fi, in Finnish) from Kilpisjärvi Visitor Centre and snowmobiling is forbidden in Malla Strict Nature Reserve.

You can find a link here to snowmobile routes in the Southern part of Enontekiö and you can find a link here to snowmobile routes in the Kasivarsi / Kilpisjärvi region of Enontekiö.

Both the people who run Hetta's snow castle and the people who run the safari company , Nakkala, offer snowmobile safairs of various lengths. Your hotels will probably also be able to help.

If you want to simply hire your own snowmobile and venture forth without a guide, 'Joen Safaris', based just down the hill from Hotel Majatalo, are probably one of your best options. Be very very careful if you do this, however, that you do not venture at all off the designated trails since you will have no idea where the weak ice crossing rivers and lakes lies, underneath the soft cover of snow!