Sarek National Park (Swedish: Sareks nationalpark) is a national park in Jokkmokk Municipality, Lapland, in northern Sweden.
Established in 1909–1910, the park is one of the oldest national parks in Europe. The shape of Sarek Park is roughly circular, with an average diameter of about 50 km (31.07 mi). The park features about 200 peaks over 1,800 m (5,900 ft), 82 of which have names. There are approximately 100 glaciers in Sarek National Park.
Sarek is a popular area for experienced hikers and mountaineers. There are no marked trails or accommodations, and only two bridges, aside from those near its borders. The area receives some of the heaviest rainfall in Sweden, making hiking dependent on weather conditions. It is also intersected by turbulent streams, which are hazardous to cross without proper training.
The delta of the Rapa River is considered one of Europe’s most notable views, and the summit of Mount Skierfe offers an overlook of that ice-covered, glacial trough valley.
In a group of three, we pursued a zig-zag crossing of the national park, starting in Kvikkjokk and finishing in Saltoluokta after ten days of hiking (and some rowing, too).
Here, one truly relies on oneself: no marked trails (though there are some footpaths), no huts or cabins, frequent river crossings, and muddy terrain of river wetlands. Still, without a doubt, this place is a deep north paradise: most likely, you will have it to yourself, with very few other people around. High mountain peaks covered with majestic glaciers, beautiful river deltas, birch woods, reindeer, and—if you are lucky—elks.
It’s hard not to want to come back someday. After just one trip, there is still much left to explore…
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Reaching the outpost of Kvikkjokk is not straightforward. After spending a night in our tents near Kiruna train station, we took an early morning train from Kiruna to the small outpost of Murjek.
From Murjek, we were the only bus passengers to Jokkmokk, aside from a few school kids. There, we opted for a taxi ride to the small settlement of Kvikkjokk, as we didn't want to wait another day for a regular bus connection.
In Kvikkjokk, we finally took a boat ride across the Kamajåkk and Tarra River delta to begin our journey on the well-marked and maintained Padjelanta Trail.
The weather was sunny, and we hiked in t-shirts most of the time.
What was surprising, though, was that even in early September, there were no signs of the approaching autumn; everything was still green, and all the trees, leaves, and shrubs remained in their summer colors.
We learned a couple of days later that this year, summer started unusually late due to an exceptionally long winter...
The Padjelanta Trail is well maintained, and our first hiking day went smoothly, even with heavy backpacks full of food supplies for more than a week.
The landscape was beautiful, featuring rivers, lakes, deep forests, and duckboards over the wetland sections of the trail.
Using hanging bridges is always fun, and this was the case here, as there are a couple of these entertaining hiking aids across the broader rivers.
After spending a lovely time in the beautiful gorge of the Tarra River, we continued hiking in the perfect evening light towards the Njunjesstugan mountain hut.
From there, in the approaching twilight, we decided to push a little further across the low mountain ridge, aiming to camp somewhere by Luopoal Lake.
After having breakfast and packing our things, it wasn't a long stretch to reach the Tarrekaisestugan hut, where we continued to the northwest on the well-maintained path after a short rest.
The broad valley looked beautiful, and except for a few occasional hikers (all coming from the opposite direction), we were alone in the Tarradalen Valley.
It took us a few hours to reach another hut, Såmmarlappanstugan.
There, we chatted with a friendly warden about the weather (summer being quite late this year and heavy rainfall from the previous week) and our route to Sarek, which was confirmed as doable and often chosen (usually as a return route, though).
From Såmmarlappanstugan, we continued hiking north on a gentle ascent, aiming to reach the plateau higher up in the Tarradalen Valley to camp there for the night.
We found a nice, suitable place for our campsite higher in the valley, sufficiently sheltered to protect us from the blowing northern wind.
It was quite chilly, but the campfire made the evening enjoyable and cozy—thanks to the flammable birch wood! :-)
We continued hiking north in the Tarradalen Valley, still following the well-maintained Padjelantaleden trail, which features frequent walkboards that make crossing the wet sections of the path really easy.
It was cloudy, but at least it wasn’t raining—rain is not a favorite companion on week-long hikes, especially in areas without any shelters.
After a few hours, we reached the huts at Tarraluoppalstugorna cabin and had another chat with the warden. Being a mother of four, she still opted for a summer-long stay in the wilderness, baking bread, fishing, and taking care of the hut's facilities. It’s interesting, but definitely understandable, given the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
From Tarraluoppalstugorna, we continued further north, having left the Padjelanta Trail and quickly losing the small disappearing footpaths.
At first, we were a bit nervous about this, but soon we realized that this is free wilderness hiking: one chooses their own path and navigates using the map and the landscape. With sufficient experience, there was nothing to be afraid of.
The weather started to change rapidly.
Occasional rain showers were turning into brief periods of sunshine, often resulting in the appearance of rainbows. After crossing a reindeer fence marked on the map, we continued north toward a private hut used by Sami reindeer herders, which served as an obvious orientation point in the area.
Here, we pitched our tents; Sarek was close—really close: we could see the entrance from our tents.
After a few rain showers during the night, we woke up to a calm morning with some pleasant moments of sunshine.
After having breakfast, we left the peaceful surroundings of the locked "Renvaktarstuga" Sami hut (private property) and continued hiking north toward Álggajávrre Lake.
The clouds were moving quickly, and occasional moments of bright sunshine were rapidly replaced by rain showers.
We quickly realized this was typical weather for Sarek.
Here, we met three French hikers heading in the opposite direction toward the intriguing Njoatsosvágge (Njåtjosvagge) valley—an inspiration for our next adventure! :-)
The surroundings of Álggavágge Lake, with the fast-flowing Alep Sarvesjåhkå River, were truly beautiful and formed a pristine entrance to the unspoiled wilderness of Sarek.
Fortunate to have two boats on our side of the Mielladno River, we quickly managed to cross it. After a short hike, we visited one of the few buildings within the park: the intriguing stone Alkavare Chapel.
The chapel overlooks Álggajávrre Lake from a lovely hilltop setting and may serve as an emergency shelter in case of bad weather.
We enjoyed our lunch there, relishing some delightful moments of sunshine, before setting out on the trail again, following a continuously appearing and disappearing footpath on the left side of the lake.
After some time, later in the evening, we found ourselves hiking in the Álggavágge Valley, illuminated by the setting sun in a truly spectacular way.
The higher we went, the easier the hiking became. It was not much of a pleasure to navigate the wet areas of alder shrubs, which sometimes felt very close to bushwhacking. We started to really dislike those green areas on the map! :-)
We pitched our tents higher in the valley soon after sunset.
It quickly became chilly, with the temperature dropping close to 0 °C. Our first full day in Sarek was exciting, and we looked forward to what the upcoming days would bring us.
To our surprise and some joy (though somewhat tempered by the unpleasant cold), we woke up to a foggy and snowy morning. Higher up in the pass where we stayed (and on the mountain peaks), the night’s rain showers had turned into a soft snowfall.
The Álggavágge Valley looked completely different than it had the day before; snow replaced sunshine, and low-lying clouds obscured the views.
We quickly nicknamed the Sarek area ahead of us "Mordor," and we were eager to explore it.
After about two hours, we left the Álggavágge Valley and began to gently descend in a southeast direction toward the valley of the Rahpajåhkå River.
The clouds were moving quickly, and the rapidly changing weather of light rain showers and periods of sunshine continued to prevail.
After some time, we finally caught sight of the delta of the Rahpajåhkå River for the first time—it was truly a wonderful sight.
Knowing this was just the beginning of the beautiful views, we hurried east, aiming to find shelter at the bridge over the Smailajåkk Canyon. However, it took us some time to realize that the huts were located higher in the valley, further to the north.
The Smailajåkk Canyon is a spectacular sight, and without a bridge over it, finding a suitable place to cross the fast-flowing glacial river would surely be a challenge.
We had lunch in the shelter and attempted (unsuccessfully) to dry our boots and socks—naturally, they were completely soaked, given the soggy terrain we had been crossing and the occasional rain.
I decided to save my dry socks for a later time; the only reasonable solution seemed to be to get the water out of my boots and squeeze it out of my socks—nothing more could be done.
We continued hiking east along the left side of the valley, enjoying a few rainbows in the ever-changing weather.
As the day was coming to an end, we soon had to decide where to camp and find a suitable place (i.e., flat and not wet) to pitch our tents.
The views across the valley were spectacular from both ends.
As evening approached, it began to get quite chilly. Having already abandoned the idea of camping at Snávvájávvre Lake beyond the pass, it seemed challenging to find a suitable place to set up camp.
Fortunately, we finally found a beautiful spot with stunning views of the valley—a perfect location, albeit at the cost of constant winds and freezing temperatures shortly after nightfall.
What a beautiful (and cold!) morning…
Wearing all layers of our clothes, we witnessed one of those stunning early autumn sunrises in the wilderness beyond the Arctic Circle. At first, only the peaks of the surrounding mountains were illuminated by the rising sun, but after about an hour, the entire valley was bathed in sunlight as well.
It was an up-and-down climb to the pass, with occasional wet areas and our favorite sections of alder shrubs.
Having reached the top, we continued our journey across a high-altitude plateau along the shore of Snávvájávvre Lake. From there, it was just a few hundred meters to the edge of the Rapadalen Valley.
Despite the clouds, the Rapadalen Valley looked beautiful.
With such fine views from the natural viewpoint close to the trail (below Låddebákte Peak), we stayed there for more than just a few moments, simply enjoying the vistas in both the western and eastern directions.
There was a small group of other hikers nearby; having not encountered anyone during the last couple of days, we felt almost disturbed by their presence. Such is the power and magic of Sarek… one wants to experience it alone.
We continued south, soon reaching the bottom of the Rapadalen Valley. Finally, there were birch trees around, and it was clear that a campfire would be held in the evening. With our boots soaking wet, we looked forward to drying them out tomorrow.
We found a nice campsite not far from the Ráhpaädno River, enjoyed a brief visit from a few reindeer, built a fire, had dinner, witnessed a beautiful sunset, and went to sleep feeling happy that we had successfully crossed Sarek and entered Rapadalen.
If not earlier, it was this morning when we realized that summer was over and autumn had just arrived.
Indeed, looking at all the birch trees around us, we beheld Mr. Fall’s artist palette of autumn colors: yellow, green, orange, red, and brown—everything had turned autumnal as if within a single day.
The weather looked promising, and we set out on the trail in the desired southeast direction, traversing birch woods and following the Ráhpaädno River.
It was mostly pleasant hiking on flat terrain through the birch forest, usually with a good path to follow—this part of Sarek is definitely more visited than the Álggavágge Valley we came from.
However, crossing a few wetland grass areas became both unavoidable and rather unpleasant: no matter what we tried, our boots soon became wet again.
There is a boat service operating in the lower parts of the Ráhpaädno River across Laitaure Lake. While we were aware of this, it seemed unlikely we would use it—it was already quite late in the season, and we were considering a different direction anyway.
Indeed, at the boat departure point, we found only a note stating that the season was over and that there wasn't enough water for the boat to operate.
We weren’t really upset, though, and continued hiking through dense woods to the north, finding a nice camping spot east of Nammásj Hill.
It was quite a strenuous and time-consuming climb to the mountain plateau west of Skierfe—there were no paths at all in the dense woods and shrubs.
However, the views from the plateau were amazing: in such beautiful weather, we couldn’t have asked for more.
After reaching the plateau, we continued east, aiming to find a suitable camping spot just below Skierfe Mountain.
Being on the top of Skierfe… this had been our planned destination since the very beginning of the trip, and our expectations were significantly surpassed. What a view and what a place!
We felt like we were at the top of the world, with no civilization closer than tens of kilometers on foot.
A few hundred meters below us, the delta of the Ráhpaädno River resembled an interconnected network of small rivers, streams, and lakes, all surrounded by autumn birch forests.
We stayed at the top of Skierfe for more than an hour, enjoying a beautiful sunset in a truly spectacular setting.
Yet one more performance was about to unfold: the northern lights (Aurora Borealis).
It began just after twilight and was incredibly intense. We had seen the northern lights several times before, but this display was undoubtedly the most spectacular we had ever witnessed.
Even without a camera, we could see green lights in the sky, rapidly moving from one place to another like divine fireworks. Usually, one can only see fast-moving colorless lights, but this time the skies turned a brilliant green—an amazing performance indeed.
Having witnessed the sunset at the top of Skierfe, we couldn’t miss the sunrise—and it was just as rewarding as the evening on the mountain peak the previous day.
The light was coming from a different direction, illuminating the Rapadalen Valley to the west. The sun was shining, no wind was blowing, and once again we found ourselves sitting at the top of the known world—alone, but not feeling lonely. We felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be here and to witness such an amazing birth of a new day…
After an hour or two at the top of Skierfe, we packed our tents and began hiking again, this time in a northeast direction across the Njunjes Plateau, aiming to reach the Kungsleden trail somewhere before Gåbddåjávrre Lake.
It was an easy and enjoyable hike across the mountain plateau, with no trails or paths available—just free wandering in the tundra wilderness.
Autumn paradise—this is exactly how the landscape around Gåbddåjávrre Lake appeared. The peak of autumn colors, birch woods, and brilliantly colored berries surrounded us.
It felt like a miracle: just less than a week ago, we had been hiking in a summer landscape, and now we were witnessing the most beautiful scene that fall could offer.
We continued hiking north through a true fairy-tale birch forest, amazed by the beauty that nature can create in just a few days.
This was one of those moments when we didn’t want to reach the shores of the lake too soon—instead, we wished to wander through these amazing woods forever.
We were curious about how the crossing of Gåbddåjárre Lake would go.
Familiar with the "three-boat principle," we hoped to find two boats on our side of the lake—and we were fortunate to do so. Still, it took us almost two hours to cross the clear waters of Gåbddåjárre; the boat was not easy to maneuver, but in the beautiful weather, it was also fun.
We bought a few Cokes and biscuits from a small “shop” on the shores of the lake operated by Lars and Anna, who spend their family time there until winter arrives.
Lars also offers a boat service here; next time, we may use it when traveling to the Rinim hamlet on the west shore of Sitojaure Lake.
Quickly, we continued hiking north. Although we were annoyed by swarms of small flies (a first for us on the trek), we made good progress while still admiring the autumn beauty of the tundra landscape as the sunset approached.
We camped near the Ávtsusjjåhkå River, witnessing another lovely, though less intense, Aurora Borealis performance. It was our last night in the wilderness; tomorrow, we would return to civilization once again.
It was about 15 kilometers of hiking on the well-trodden Kungsleden path through the beautiful autumn tundra landscape.
Here, despite the end of the season, we encountered many more hikers than we had in Sarek, most of whom were wandering in the opposite north-to-south direction.
I have mixed feelings about Kungsleden: there are too many people, and, more importantly, not that much to see along the trail. In my experience, the more interesting places are found around Kungsleden, not directly on it or in its immediate proximity.
We spent the night at a campsite near the Saltoluokta tourist hut and enjoyed its sauna, which offered beautiful views across the lake—a special moment after ten days of wandering in the wilderness. A couple of beers were certainly a nice addition, too! :-)
Now, sitting at a coffee table in winter Prague, I wonder when we decided that we would return to Sarek next year. Perhaps it was in Saltoluokta, maybe in Kiruna, or perhaps a bit later—but that doesn’t really matter.
We are going back to Sarek because we want to. There is still so much to explore. Sarek seems to have a magical power: once you see it and experience it, you become attracted and addicted to it forever.
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