Winter is The Season for Husky Sledding, Fun in the Sun, Snow and Ice,
and Northern Lights
Husky Tours
During this unique sledding experience we'll teach you how to drive your own team of dogs in small groups of six participants and two guides.
We start by getting winter overalls and boots for anybody needing them. Then after the driving lesson we set off with our lively Siberian huskies through the silent forest, following the guide's team, with no snowmobiles spoiling the magic. Participants travel in pairs, so couples can take turns to drive the sled and ride in it, and for families, parents drive the sled, while their children are tucked up warmly in the sled. After the run, you can cuddle the dogs and take photos before we go for a kennel tour, where we tell you all about our dogs. We finish off with a warm drink and cookies in our old, traditional café.
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Our husky tours can be booked here:
Northern Lights
Aurora Borealis
Northern lights, or aurora borealis, can be seen easily from the garden or lake directly in front of the cabins. Aurora start in autumn and continue on and off throughout winter until spring, being stronger around the equinoxes. Since we are located in the middle of the wilderness, by a large open space and far from city light pollution, the views are incredible. The picture on the right shows all of our buildings and the aurora, photographed from our lake with an iphone - the cabin lights are obviously not strong enough to obstruct the light from the aurora! The aurora can come and go during the night and sometimes they only last for a few minutes, so when the forecast is good, it's best to be outside as soon as it starts getting dark, as long as the sky is clear. The aurora can be seen from our garden, so it's not necessary to book an aurora tour elsewhere. However, if it is cloudy, we can arrange for you to be transported by a guide to places where there are no clouds, or, if you have hired a car, you can drive to those places yourselves. There are many apps with aurora activity forecasts that are free to download. The apps use data from satellites and since they use a real-time feed, they give accurate predictions for the next 15-60 minutes. See below for help in reading the forecast.
Snowmobiles, Reindeer and Horse Sleigh Rides
Alternatively, the wilderness can be explored with iron dogs! We arrange a snowmobile tour on site ourselves for max. 6 people, where we take you to one of our lakes to go ice-fishing. Alternatively, you can book a snowmobile tour through Visit Rovaniemi's website or the Pyhä-Luosto National Park website. We are half way between both places - Rovaniemi caters for many people and Pyhä-Luosto is less crowded. Snowmobile tours include winter overalls, boots, balaclavas, helmets, and of course, a driving lesson if you are going to drive one. After that, you'll set off on a snowmobile with a guide.
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For those interested in more of Lapland's authentic experiences, like spending a day with a reindeer herding family, then this Unique reindeer farm near Misi is worth looking at (they will even come to pick you up from our place). Or if you want to go for a reindeer sleigh ride, we recommend going to Jaakkola reindeer farm near Luosto. For horse riding and real jingle bells whilst riding in a "one horse open sleigh", you should go to Outisen horse riding centre, where you'll meet some of Finland's very own breed of horse, the lovely Finnhorse. Their stables are also near the Pyhä-Luosto national park area, about half an hour further along the road towards Kemijärvi.
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And finally, check out the websites of the nearby resorts mentioned above to find even more activities that you can also book for yourselves.
Free Activities
Cross-country skis, snowshoes, ice-skates and ice-fishing equipment are included in the price of accomodation, so are free to use by guests staying in our cabins. They are available to use on site whenever you want. Cross-country skiing and snowshoe trekking are a great way to explore the many aspects of our surrounding wilderness. Here is a map showing our colour-coded trails - it's a good idea to take a screenshot of it before heading out, in case you can't get internet in the forest, and make sure your phone is fully charged too before you set off exploring. If you have a power bank, take that with you as well, because phone batteries don't last very long in cold weather.
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We make additional cross-country ski tracks on and around the lake which are also suitable for beginners. Most of our forest routes can also be hiked in normal winter boots so you can venture deep into the forest where you can enjoy the rare beauty of our natural landscape even if you have no previous cross-country skiing experience.