The Piilola Trail is a historical wilderness trail in the boreal coniferous forest zone. This 35-km-long summer hiking trail connects Norway's Øvre Pasvik National Park and Finland's Vätsäri Wilderness Area. The trail is best suited to experienced hikers.
The landscape along the hiking trail chiefly consists of pine-dominated rocky heaths. The old-growth forests, the medium-sized clear lakes as well as the small rivers and mires bring open space and variety to the forest landscape. Although nature does not recognise State borders, there are differences in the natural scenery (such as landforms) in Norway and Finland.
In the wilderness, observant hikers will see signs of wilderness animals and the cycle of nature. There is a row of holes on the side of a pine at the spot where a three-toed woodpecker has looked for food under the pine bark. The wilderness is also home to bears – the crushed anthills are evidence of their presence. As the boreal coniferous forest zone undergoes various stages of development, forest fires and storms contribute greatly to its regeneration. The fire scars on the sides of the large pines tell a story of the forest fires that raged in the area long ago. The tree trunks that have fallen in one direction in a specific area reveal the course of a powerful storm.
The Piilola Trail is also a cultural route on which you can catch a glimpse of how life in the wilderness was in the past. Life at the wilderness farms on the shores of lakes rich in fish was based on self-sufficiency. The inhabitants kept a few cows and reindeer, they fished and hunted and led, from a modern perspective, a simple life far away from the population centres. The hiking trail runs along the old routes between the wilderness farms and the villages of Nellim in Finland and Vaggetem in Norway. The carved markings on the sides of old pines are signs of a route used in the past. The depopulation of the Vätsäri wilderness farms began in the 1970s. Today, Vätsäri is a quiet wilderness area where the locals carry out reindeer husbandry and go hunting and fishing.
The international atmosphere of the Piilola Trail adds to its uniqueness. The Piilola Trail was created as a result of nature conservation and nature-based tourism cooperation between Norway, Russia and Finland. The hiking trail runs through the Pasvik-Inari Trilateral Park (pasvik-inari.net), which is located in Norwegian, Russian and Finnish territory.
Trail Directions
In Norway
- The closest airport (avinor.no) is located in Kirkenes. In summer, there is a daily coach connection (matkahuolto.fi) from Ivalo to Näätämö. From Näätämö to Norweigian side Neiden there is no public connection, the dictance is about 13 km.
- From Kirkenes, there is a coach connection (Kirkenes-Vaggetem) to the village of Vaggetem and to a point that is located at a distance of about 11 kilometres from the Piilola Trail's starting point. Timetables (boreal.no)
By Car
In Finland
- The trail's southern starting point is located at the distance of about 14.5 km from the village of Nellim. From Nellim, drive along road no. 969 for 3 km towards Virtaniemi and then turn onto Kessintie (no. 9696). Drive along Kessintie for 11.5 km and you will arrive at the trail's starting point, where there is a parking area as well as an information board and a signpost.
In Norway
- The trail's northern starting point is located 11 km southwest of the village of Vaggetem. From Vaggetem, continue along road no. 885 for 2 km to the south. There is a forest road branching off by the information board about Øvre Pasvik National Park. Drive along the forest road for 9 km and you will arrive at the trail's starting point on the shores of Lake Sortbrysttjern.
Local taxi and programme service entrepreneurs provide the necessary transport services in Finland and in Norway (visitnorway.com). By road, the geographical distance between the trail's starting points is about 290 km. The distance from Neiden to the shores of Lake Sorbrysttjern is about 47 km and 13 km from Neiden to Näätämö.
Maps
Electronic maps
Instructions for Exploring the Piilola Trail
The trail on the Finnish side is in the area of Vätsäri Wilderness Area and in Norway the trail goes in the Øvre Pasvik National Park.
Preparations
Crossing the Finnish–Norwegian Border
- Citizens of the Schengen countries and those citizens of a third country who have a residence permit or a visa for a Schengen country may walk freely across the Finnish-Norwegian border as long as they have nothing to declare. If required, you must be able to prove your identity, so take an identity card (such as a passport) with you.
Camping
On the Finnish side camping is free and also along the trail in Norwegian side.
Campfires in Finland:
- Lighting campfires is completely forbidden when a wildfire warning is in effect. It is recommended that you use the official campfire sites by the lean-to shelters and open wilderness huts or, at least, that you use the campfire bases when you find one. That way you are able to reduce the erosion of the terrain.
- Making open fires is always prohibited at both marked campfire sites and when fires are permitted by the land owner if a wildfire warning (ilmatieteenlaitos.fi) has been issued for the area.
- This prohibition does not apply to cooking shelters or other fireplaces with a flue.
Campfires in Norway:
- In the Øvre Pasvik National Park, lighting a campfire is only allowed using dry branches and twigs at the official campfire sites. Lighting campfires is generally forbidden in the woodlands between 15 April and 15 September.
Level of Difficulty
The Piilola Trail is demanding because of its wilderness-like character. Hikers must have prior hiking experience as well as good wilderness and navigation skills. There are only few duckboards and bridges along the trail, and the rivers are mainly crossed by wading or by walking on the stones. The duckboards are in a bad shape. On the Finnish side of the border, the trail has been marked with wooden poles and on the Norwegian side with paint marks on the sides of trees and stones, in addition to safety reflectors hanging from trees.
There is relatively little variation in altitude but the rocky ground makes walking slow. The estimated hiking time for the Piilola Trail is 3–4 days. The best time for walking the trail is between mid-June and the end of September, i.e. the period after the spring floods and before the first snowfall. There are no accessible services along the trail.
Overnight Stays
Camping and Lean-to Shelters
- Camping is allowed on the Finnish side of the Piilola Trail in the Vätsäri Wilderness Area in accordance with the everyman's rights (environment.fi).
- It is recommended that you camp in the vicinity of the open wilderness huts or the lean-to shelters, as they also boast a campfire site and a dry toilet.
- In Øvre Pasvik National Park on the Norwegian side, camping is freely allowed by the Piilola Trail.
- There are two lean-to shelters by the Piilola Trail:
- The Nuottamajärvi lean-to shelter is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Nuottamajärvi, at a distance of about 14 km from the trail's southern starting point.
- The other (and the most northern) lean-to shelter by the trail is located on the southeastern shore of Lake Svarbrysttjørna at a distance of about 2 km from the starting point located on the Norwegian side of the border.
Wilderness Huts
The huts are located in the following order when walking along the Piilola Trail from south to north:
- Piilola, open wilderness hut
- Piilolaporten, open wilderness hut
- Ellenvannskoia, open wilderness hut
Starting Points for Trips
There is no recommended walking direction for the Piilola Trail; you can walk it from south to north or vice versa. The easiest way to hike on the Piilola Trail is to walk some of the stretch back and forth, as the trail's northern and southern starting points are located far from each other by road. Public transport services do not quite connect the starting points but local tourism entrepreneurs provide transport services.
Starting Points for Excursions
- The Piilola Trail's southern starting point is situated along Kessintie in the southern part of the Vätsäri Wilderness Area, some 14 km northeast of the village of Nellim.
- The trail's northern starting point is located on the shores of Lake Sortbrysttjern in the northeastern part of Øvre Pasvik National Park, some 11 km southwest of the village of Vaggetem.
Trail Sections
Below, the Piilola Trail has been divided into sections (according to accommodation opportunities) from south to north, i.e. from Finland to Norway.
- Kessintie–Piilola 20.5 km
- Piilola–Piilolaporten 3.8 km
- Piilolaporten–Ellenkoia 6.3 km
- Ellenkoia–Sortbrysttjern 4.4 km
Trail Marks
On the Finnish side, the Piilola Trail has been marked with wooden blue poles and in Norway with blue paint marks on trees as well as blue signs hanging from the trees. The Piilola Trail has been operational since June 2009, and there are still some sections (mainly on the Norwegian side) where no clear track has formed.
Kessintie–Sortbrysttjern Trail Description, 35 km
- Kessintie–Piilola 20.5 km. The first two hundred metres of the Piilola Trail run on forestry land where the use of the forest can be clearly seen. After walking for 3 km, you will arrive in the Vätsäri Wilderness Area. In the Kessi area in the southern part of the wilderness, you will see signs of the selection cutting carried out in the 1920s, in which the largest trees were felled. The trail runs along the shores of Lake Kessijärvi where is a former wilderness farm (privat own area) and its outbuildings. Trail runs through impressive forests where the proud old trees, or 'aihkis', spend their retirement days. The trail bypasses all of the most difficult rocky areas. The Nuottamajärvi lean-to shelter is located at the distance of about 9 km from Lake Kessijärvi. Before arriving at the lean-to shelter, cross the River Naamajoki along the bridge, and before the Piilola open wilderness hut, wade cross the brook at Hietikkolompola. The Piilola open wilderness hut is situated on the shores of Lake Nammijärvi.
- Piilola–Piilolaporten 3.8 km. In this section, the trail runs through mires across which there are no duckboards. The hike culminates in crossing the Finnish-Norwegian border at the Piilola border crossing point (border mark rm 353 K): A reindeer fence divides the two countries from each other and, at the same time, the European Union nations from the non-European Union ones. There are steps to help you climb the reindeer fence. The Piilolaporten open wilderness hut is located at a distance of only a few hundred metres from the State border.
- Piilolaporten–Ellenvannskoia 6.3 km. The variation in altitude is greatest on this stretch but the ascents are reasonable. The open waters of Lake Ellenvatnet dominate the views on this stretch. On approaching the Ellenvannskoia open wilderness hut, there are nature information boards on the natural features and cultural history of the Øvre Pasvik National Park.
- Ellenvannskoia–Sortbrysttjern 4.4 km. On the last stretch that runs along the shores of Lake Sortbrysttjern, there are also information boards presenting the natural features and cultural history of the national park. The last lean-to shelter is located at a distance of about 2.4 km from the Ellenvannskoia open wilderness hut. Following the shoreline of Lake Sortbrysttjern, you will arrive at the Piilola Trail's northern finishing point.
