Skip to content

Iso Karhunkierros

The Karhunkierros, the Bear's Ring, through Oulanka National Park, from Hautajärvi in Salla to Saarua in East Ruka, hut to hut in Metsähallitus's seven sections along the Oulankajoki and Kitkajoki rivers.

Compare with others
GPX Offline maps Open in Planner
81 kmMapped distance
1,509 mMapped ascent
7Walking stages

Best season: End of May to October. Metsähallitus gives the hiking season as the end of May to October; July and September are the busiest months, and about 5,000 hikers walk the whole trail each season. The open wilderness huts stay open all year. In October 2026 the season is over at both ends: the summer buses stopped on 30 September, Napapiiri Café and its cabins at Hautajärvi are closed until 28 May 2027, and the Oulanka camping ground is closed until June. Before you go

Loading your plan…

Plan your days

Your dates

Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…

Seven sections, Metsähallitus's own, each ending at an open wilderness hut except the second, which ends at the Oulanka Visitor Centre and its summer camping ground. The huts are free and cannot be booked, so carry a tent. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.

Hut seasons as published. 2026: all 6 huts open 1 January to 31 December; 2027: all 6 huts open 1 January to 31 December.

6-day plan

Loading topographic map…
200m300m400m500m020 km40 km60 km80 km480m148m
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%)
Each day in its own colour, numbered where it starts; the rest of the Iso Karhunkierros in grey. Select a day for its elevation and 3D flyover.

Make your own plan

Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.

Choose your nights (5 nights)

Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Hautajärvi to Taivalköngäs

    Stage 1

    Distance
    19.0 km
    Climb
    +195 / −239 m
    Walking
    5 h 16measured on the mapped line

    Stage 1: From the Karhunkierros Nature Centre at Hautajärvi to the Taivalköngäs open wilderness hut by the rapids: 19 km, Metsähallitus says; it publishes no time. The Savilampi hut, 15 km in, makes a shorter first day; Taivalköngäs is 4 km on.

    Overnight

    Taivalköngäs

    Mountain refuge · Metsähallitus (Parks & Wildlife Finland)

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 20262027 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 2026
    Places
    10 to 15 places Taivalköngäs has 10 to 15 places
    Booking
    No booking Free, first come; it cannot be reserved. Stay one or two nights at most. Carry a tent in case it is full.
    Contact
    Official site

    Metsähallitus's open wilderness hut by the Taivalköngäs rapids, a two-storey log hut, with a tent area beside it.

    Day 1 GPX Open in Planner

  2. Day 2

    Taivalköngäs to Ansakämppä

    Stage 2, Stage 3

    Distance
    16.1 km
    Climb
    +165 / −179 m
    Walking
    4 h 31measured on the mapped line

    Stage 2: To the Oulanka Visitor Centre: 9 km, Metsähallitus says; 7.6 km on our line, which ends by the camping ground beside the centre. There is no open hut here: the camping ground is run privately and is open from June to the end of August.

    Stage 3: From the visitor centre to the Ansakämppä open wilderness hut: 8 km.

    Overnight

    Ansakämppä

    Mountain refuge · Metsähallitus (Parks & Wildlife Finland)

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 20262027 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 2026
    Places
    20 places in total Ansakämppä has 20 places
    Booking
    No booking Free, first come; it cannot be reserved. Stay one or two nights at most. Carry a tent in case it is full.
    Contact
    Official site

    Metsähallitus's open wilderness hut on the bank of the Oulankajoki.

    Day 2 GPX Open in Planner

  3. Day 3

    Ansakämppä to Jussinkämppä

    Stage 4

    Distance
    7.9 km
    Climb
    +167 / −69 m
    Walking
    2 h 18measured on the mapped line

    Stage 4: To the Jussinkämppä open wilderness hut: 7 km.

    Overnight

    Jussinkämppä

    Mountain refuge · Metsähallitus (Parks & Wildlife Finland)

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 20262027 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 2026
    Places
    25 places in total Jussinkämppä has 20 places, and the campfire hut beside it sleeps 5
    Booking
    No booking Free, first come; it cannot be reserved. Stay one or two nights at most. Carry a tent in case it is full.
    Contact
    Official site

    Metsähallitus's open wilderness hut by the lake Kulmakkojärvi, with a campfire hut beside it.

    Day 3 GPX Open in Planner

  4. Day 4

    Jussinkämppä to Siilastupa

    Stage 5

    Distance
    14.2 km
    Climb
    +232 / −289 m
    Walking
    4 h 10measured on the mapped line

    Stage 5: To the Siilastupa open wilderness hut: 14 km. The Harrisuvanto shelter and lean-to are 3.9 km before Siilastupa.

    Overnight

    Siilastupa

    Mountain refuge · Metsähallitus (Parks & Wildlife Finland)

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 20262027 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 2026
    Places
    10 to 12 places Siilastupa has 10 to 12 places
    Booking
    No booking Free, first come; it cannot be reserved. Stay one or two nights at most. Carry a tent in case it is full.
    Contact
    Official site

    Metsähallitus's open wilderness hut on the bank of the Kitkajoki, on both the Karhunkierros and Pieni Karhunkierros. Basecamp Oulanka, a hotel, is about 1.6 km away in a straight line.

    Day 4 GPX Open in Planner

  5. Day 5

    Siilastupa to Porontimajoki

    Stage 6

    Distance
    8.4 km
    Climb
    +156 / −50 m
    Walking
    2 h 24measured on the mapped line

    Stage 6: To Porontimajoki: 8 km. After 1 km the trail leaves Pieni Karhunkierros and Oulanka National Park. Porontimajoki has two small open huts of 5 places each and a lean-to.

    Overnight

    Porontimajoki

    Mountain refuge · Metsähallitus (Parks & Wildlife Finland)

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 20262027 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 Open all year, Metsähallitus says: free, first come, and it cannot be reserved. luontoon.fi, read 13 October 2026
    Places
    10 places in total two open wilderness huts of 5 places each
    Booking
    No booking Free, first come; it cannot be reserved. Stay one or two nights at most. Carry a tent in case it is full.
    Contact
    Official site

    Two small open wilderness huts of Metsähallitus, 5 places each, and a lean-to, outside the national park. The last flowing water before Saarua.

    Day 5 GPX Open in Planner

  6. Day 6

    Porontimajoki to Saarua

    Stage 7

    Distance
    15.0 km
    Climb
    +594 / −588 m
    Walking
    4 h 46measured on the mapped line

    Stage 7: Over the hills to the Saarua parking area in East Ruka: 14 km by the section heading, which still says Ruka; Metsähallitus's list of sections gives 15.1 km. There is no flowing water on this last section: fill up at Porontimajoki. Older guides end in Ruka village.

    Day 6 GPX Open in Planner

Longest day: day 1, 5 h 16.

How these plans are made

Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.

Huts and stays, stage by stage

Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.

StageNight at20262027Booking
1. Hautajärvi to TaivalköngäsTaivalköngäs 1 January 2026 to 31 December 20261 January 2027 to 31 December 2027No booking
2. Taivalköngäs to Oulanka Visitor CentreOulanka National Park Camping Ground 1 June 2026 to 31 August 2026not publishedBooking method not published
3. Oulanka Visitor Centre to AnsakämppäAnsakämppä 1 January 2026 to 31 December 20261 January 2027 to 31 December 2027No booking
4. Ansakämppä to JussinkämppäJussinkämppä 1 January 2026 to 31 December 20261 January 2027 to 31 December 2027No booking
5. Jussinkämppä to SiilastupaSiilastupa 1 January 2026 to 31 December 20261 January 2027 to 31 December 2027No booking
6. Siilastupa to PorontimajokiPorontimajoki 1 January 2026 to 31 December 20261 January 2027 to 31 December 2027No booking
7. Porontimajoki to SaaruaSaarua · no hut at this point

Weather this week

Loading the forecast for low point (142 m) and high point (489 m)…

Weather by month

Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (142 m) and the highest point (489 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.

Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
WeatherPoorPoorPoorPoorMixedGoodGoodGoodGoodMixedPoorPoor
Stages rated good on typical weather0/70/70/70/70/77/77/77/77/70/70/70/7
High point, day / night-8°/-17°-8°/-17°-3°/-14°3°/-7°9°/-1°15°/5°18°/8°15°/6°9°/2°2°/-3°-3°/-9°-6°/-14°
Low point, day / night-7°/-18°-6°/-17°-1°/-13°5°/-6°12°/1°18°/7°21°/10°18°/7°12°/3°4°/-2°-1°/-8°-5°/-14°
Rain, mm403433315368866858565246
Snow at high pointLikelyLikelyLikelyLikelyLikely–––FrostPossibleLikelyLikely
Daylight4 h 178 h 0711 h 3215 h 1719 h 1024 h21 h 2417 h 0513 h 189 h 445 h 552 h 44

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 Karhunkierros

Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.

Carry a tent and all your food

Metsähallitus's open wilderness huts on the trail are free, sleep 5 to 20 each and cannot be reserved; stay one or two nights at most, and carry a tent in case a hut is full. There are no rental huts on the trail. Camping is allowed right by the huts and at the marked rest spots and campfire sites. The beds you can book are off the huts: the cabins at Hautajärvi, the Oulanka camping ground in summer and Basecamp Oulanka near Siilastupa. In season the buses to both ends must be booked ahead through Matkahuolto. Pack food for the whole hike.

Out of season now

On 13 October 2026 the summer buses to both ends had stopped: their seasons ran to 30 September, and the 2027 dates are not out yet. Napapiiri Café and its cabins at Hautajärvi are closed until 28 May 2027, open by reservation only, and the Oulanka camping ground is closed until June. Do not count on public transport or on buying food on the way: plan your own way to the start and home.

Ruka: Karhunkierros buses

The open wilderness huts

Metsähallitus's huts are free, first come, open all year and cannot be reserved: Savilampi (10 places), Taivalköngäs (10 to 15), Ansakämppä (20), Jussinkämppä (20, and 5 in its campfire hut), Siilastupa (10 to 12) and the two small huts at Porontimajoki (5 each). Stay one or two nights at most. Carry a tent: a hut can be full.

Luontoon.fi: staying overnight in Oulanka

The new end at Saarua

Since spring 2026 the trail ends at the Saarua parking area in East Ruka, away from the ski area; it used to end in Ruka village. The official length is now 81 km. Older guides, maps and signs may still show the old end.

Luontoon.fi: the end moved to Saarua

Water on the last section

There is no flowing water on the last section, from Porontimajoki to the end: fill your bottles at Porontimajoki.

Luontoon.fi: Karhunkierros Trail

Oulanka's rules

Camp only by the huts, rest spots and campfire sites. Two rest zones in the park, Pähkänänkallio and Koivumutka, are closed to entry from 1 April to 15 August.

Luontoon.fi: Oulanka's rules

Notices

On 13 October 2026 no notice closed any part of the trail. The only one was about a side trail: the cable boat on the Keroharjun kuiskaus Trail had been taken out for the winter. Read the park's notices before you set off.

Luontoon.fi: Oulanka notices

Closures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: Napapiiri Café: opening status · Luontoon.fi: Oulanka alerts · Ruka.fi: Karhunkierros buses · Luontoon.fi: the end moved to Saarua · Luontoon.fi: Karhunkierros sections. Check them again before you set out.

Getting there

Connect your journey

Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.

Directions to this start Travel from this finish

Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.

To the start at Hautajärvi

Hautajärvi is in Salla, north of Ruka. In 2026, buses booked ahead through Matkahuolto ran there from Ruka daily from 1 June to 30 September, from Kuusamo and Ruka on Saturdays from 6 June to 8 August, and from Kuusamo airport by Ruka and the Ristikallio start from 25 May to 30 September; none runs until the 2027 season. Parking for the night at the start costs EUR 10 a day while the café is open.

Ruka: Karhunkierros buses

On the way

In 2026 the Karhunkierros Express ran from Ruka village by Juuma and Basecamp Oulanka to the Oulanka Visitor Centre, Monday to Saturday from 1 June to 30 September, booked ahead.

Ruka: Karhunkierros buses

Home from Saarua

The trail ends at the Saarua parking area in East Ruka. Walk into Ruka village or take the Village-2-Valley gondola, Ruka's trail page says; in Ruka all buses stop at the roundabout.

Ruka: the Karhunkierros Trail

Take your trip with you

Offline maps

Prepare every stage while you still have a connection, before you leave Kuusamo or Ruka.

Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.

  1. 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.
  2. Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
  3. 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.

Iso Karhunkierros — frequently asked questions

How long is the Iso Karhunkierros, and how many days does it take?

Metsähallitus gives 81 km from Hautajärvi to Saarua in seven hut-to-hut sections, in 7 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers plans from 5 to 7 days on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.

When is the best time to walk the Iso Karhunkierros?

End of May to October. Metsähallitus gives the hiking season as the end of May to October; July and September are the busiest months, and about 5,000 hikers walk the whole trail each season.

How do you get to the start of the Iso Karhunkierros, and back?

Hautajärvi is in Salla, north of Ruka. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 3 more travel notes.

Do you need to book on the Iso Karhunkierros?

Metsähallitus's open wilderness huts on the trail are free, sleep 5 to 20 each and cannot be reserved; stay one or two nights at most, and carry a tent in case a hut is full.

Can I download the GPX of the Iso Karhunkierros?

Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.

Is the Iso Karhunkierros open? Where are closures announced?

Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 5 official notice pages (Napapiiri Café: opening status; Luontoon.fi: Oulanka alerts; Ruka.fi: Karhunkierros buses; Luontoon.fi: the end moved to Saarua; Luontoon.fi: Karhunkierros sections); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.

Route & sources

Route map & sources

Metsähallitus (Parks & Wildlife Finland) publishes the Karhunkierros as seven hut-to-hut sections, 81 km from the Karhunkierros Nature Centre at Hautajärvi to the Saarua parking area in East Ruka. It publishes no stage times, only each section's km, given with ours on every stage. The south end moved from Ruka village to Saarua in spring 2026, which made the trail about 1 km shorter: older guides and maps end in Ruka village, through the ski area. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 1633747, "Iso Karhunkierros", from the planet of 11 October 2026): 80.6 km, cut at the seven section ends. It leaves out the other start, at the Ristikallio parking area (71 km to Saarua), and between Harrisuvanto and Siilastupa it takes the east bank past the Siilastupa hut, as the sections do. 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.

Metsähallitus (Luontoon.fi): Karhunkierros Trail

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation

More long-distance trails

Arctic Circle TrailHut to hut across the ice-free land of West Greenland.KungsledenSweden's best-known trail, through the mountains of Lapland.Höga Kusten-ledenSweden's High Coast, hut to hut by the Gulf of Bothnia.