Ruka & Kuusamo
Old forest, river gorges and the best wildlife work in Finland. Just south of the Arctic Circle, and a different landscape from the fells.
Forest, not fell
Kuusamo sits just below the Arctic Circle against the Russian border, and it looks nothing like western Lapland. Instead of open fell there is old-growth spruce, steep river gorges and a lot of water. Oulanka national park and the Karhunkierros trail running through it are the reason hikers come.
This is also the right region for wildlife. Brown bear watching from purpose-built hides works here and does not work in Lapland, So when a client asks for bears in the north, this is where they go. Wolverine and elk are seen from the same hides. The season runs roughly May to August and the hides book out.
Ruka itself is a compact ski fell with a long season, often the first and last place in Finland with snow. Quieter than Levi and with less around it, which is usually the point.
All of Finland →
Wildlife, experience, active, dine
Bears, from a hide
Overnight hides near the border, booked with the operators who run them. Bears are wild, so nothing is promised, but the summer sighting rate at these sites is the highest in the country.
Gorges, rivers and ridges
The Karhunkierros through Oulanka, day sections around Valtavaara and Konttainen, river rafting on the Kitkajoki, and cross-country skiing on a network that opens early.
Fatbike and snowshoe
Winter fatbiking on groomed forest trails, snowshoe routes into the old-growth, and quiet ski touring away from the resort side.
Forest larder
Chanterelles, lingonberry, cloudberry and freshwater fish, with a short and serious picking season in late summer. Lodge kitchens here cook what is outside the door.
What clients come here for
Brown Bear Hides
Karhunkierros Trail
Winter Fatbiking
Aurora Over the Forest
Foraging Season
Forest Wildlife
Ruka & Kuusamo by season
Bear Season
The hides open and the forest is at its most active. June and July have near-continuous light, so the night in a hide is spent watching instead of waiting for light.
Ruska and First Snow
Autumn colour through the gorges, the best hiking conditions of the year, and the first aurora nights once the dark returns.
Snow
Ruka holds snow longer than most of Finland. Cross-country, fatbike and snowshoe, with far fewer people than the western fells.
Ways to shape this journey
Starting points, not packages. Every programme is rebuilt around the client in front of you.
Bears and Forest
Two nights at a forest lodge with one night in a hide, plus a day on the Oulanka gorges.
Design this journey →East and North
Kuusamo for the wildlife and the old forest, then north to Lapland for the fells and the aurora.
Design this journey →Regions that combine well
Finnish Lapland
The Arctic heart of our operation — aurora nights, husky trails, reindeer herding country and the properties we know best.
Finnish Lakeland
Europe’s largest lake system — summer sauna culture, brown bear watching in the eastern forests, and a slower kind of Finland.
Levi
Twenty minutes from the runway at Kittilä. The resort fell, with the lifts, the restaurants and the operator density that the rest of Lapland does not have.
Send us a brief for Ruka & Kuusamo — we'll do the rest
Tell us about your client — who they are, what moves them, and how they like to travel. A senior specialist responds personally.