Stage start
Kellyville
Trailhead
The trailhead at the end of the 16 km road from Kangerlussuaq, with no hut: walk the road or take a transfer, then go on to Katiffik.
Kellyville to Katiffik
Arctic Circle Trail · Stage 2
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
22kmStage distance
435mAscent, measured
6 h 32Walking time, measured
2Stage number
From Kellyville to the Katiffik hut at the east end of Lake Amitsorsuaq: 20 km, the trail manager says.
Best season: Mid-June to late September. The trail manager gives a summer window from mid-June to late August and an autumn one from late August to late September, when snow becomes much more likely. Mosquitoes are worst from mid-June to mid-August. It advises against hiking from May to mid-June, when the snow melts and the rivers run high, and from October to February. Winter expeditions go in March and April. Before you go
Loading topographic map…
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%)
Green: Kellyville to Katiffik. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.
Kellyville to Katiffik
2 / 9
Where this stage starts and ends
Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with the hut before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage end · overnight
Katiffik
Mountain refuge · Qeqqata Kommunia (maintained by local government)
- Season
- 2026 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Open all year, the trail manager says: free, first come, first served, and it cannot be booked. arcticcircletrail.gl, read 13 October 20262027 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 Open all year, the trail manager says: free, first come, first served, and it cannot be booked. arcticcircletrail.gl, read 13 October 2026
- Places
- 6 places in total Katiffik sleeps 6 at most
- Booking
- No booking Free and open all year, first come, first served; cannot be booked. Carry a tent.
- Contact
- Not published
What the operators say about this leg
Neither operator publishes a walking time for this exact leg. Measured on the mapped line, the stage takes about 6 h 32 of walking.
Make it your trip
Go in summer, register, carry a tent
The trail manager advises against hiking the trail from October to February, and from May to mid-June while the snow melts and the trail is boggy: plan your walk between mid-June and late September. No permit or fee is needed, the trail manager says, but every hiker must register the trip online with it once the flights are booked. The huts are free, open all year and first come, first served; commercial groups must not take them over. There is nowhere to buy food or fuel on the trail: bring everything from Kangerlussuaq or Sisimiut. Fishing needs a licence.
Kellyville to Sisimiut
From the trailhead, a night in each of the trail's huts.
- 15.6 km
- 22.5 km
- 20.6 km
- 22.2 km
- 11.7 km
- 19.0 km
- 16.8 km
- 13.9 km
- 19.6 km
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (129 m) and high point (323 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (129 m) and the highest point (323 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor | Poor |
| High point, day / night | -13°/-20° | -13°/-21° | -11°/-19° | -4°/-11° | 6°/-2° | 13°/5° | 14°/6° | 12°/4° | 6°/0° | 0°/-5° | -6°/-12° | -9°/-16° |
| Low point, day / night | -12°/-19° | -12°/-20° | -10°/-18° | -3°/-10° | 7°/-1° | 14°/5° | 15°/7° | 13°/5° | 7°/0° | 1°/-5° | -5°/-11° | -8°/-15° |
| Rain, mm | 18 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 17 | 22 | 38 | 51 | 42 | 26 | 23 | 18 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Likely | Possible | – | – | – | Possible | Likely | Likely | Likely |
| Daylight | 3 h 52 | 7 h 59 | 11 h 31 | 15 h 24 | 19 h 31 | 24 h | 22 h 13 | 17 h 16 | 13 h 20 | 9 h 40 | 5 h 40 | 1 h 58 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Prepare for the Arctic Circle Trail
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Alone in the wild
For 160 km there is no village, road or shop, and help can take days. Register before you go, carry a map, compass or GPS with the official track, and plan for river crossings that rise in warm weather and after rain. The trail manager posts alerts and trail status on its site.
Arctic Circle Trail: safetyThe huts
The nine huts on the original route are free, open all year and kept up by the local government; they hold 4 to 21 people and cannot be booked. Hundesø is not an official hut and is not maintained.
Arctic Circle Trail: the hutsNotices
Read the trail manager's alerts before you set off: bridges, river levels and changes to the huts are posted there.
Arctic Circle Trail: alerts and trail statusGetting there
Connect your journey
Travel around Kellyville to Katiffik.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
To the start at Kangerlussuaq
Air Greenland flies to Kangerlussuaq, though not every day. From the settlement to the Kellyville trailhead is 16 km of gravel road: walk it, or book a transfer or taxi.
Air Greenland: flights to KangerlussuaqWays out on the trail
Boats from Sisimiut can pick hikers up at Eqalugaarniarfik and at the fjord by Kangerluarsuk Tulleq, by arrangement and with the tide.
Arctic Circle Trail: exit pointsHome from Sisimiut
Air Greenland flies from Sisimiut, not every day, and the coastal ferry Sarfaq Ittuk (Arctic Umiaq Line) calls there.
Air Greenland: flights to SisimiutTake your trip with you
Offline maps
Prepare every section before you leave Kangerlussuaq or Sisimiut: there is no mobile signal on most of the trail.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
About this map
The trail manager publishes the trail as nine hut-to-hut sections, 162 km from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut, or 146 km from the Kellyville trailhead; it publishes no section times, only distances, and gives an average of about 2.5 km an hour over the whole trail, 8 days or more. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 8350961, "Arctic Circle Trail", from the planet of 11 October 2026): 162 km on the summer route, over the new bridge at the Itinneq and along the shore of Lake Amitsorsuaq, cut at the nine section ends. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep rises are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Arctic Circle Trail: the official trail siteMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation