Biking Routes South of Hetta

Biking Routes South of Hetta

Old postal trails and forestry roads south of Hetta, plus the Hetta-Pallas trail that completes one of Europe's longest continuous mountain-bike routes.

There are a number of old roads criss-crossing the north that were used as early postal routes, and there are others which are currently used as forestry access points. Beware that some of the bridges on some of these routes are not always in great repair.

  • Ylimuonio – Puolitaival – Hetta: 38 km old postal trail (demanding), rentable open hut en route
  • Hetta – Sonkamuotka via Muotkajärvi: c.37km easy forestry-road route
  • Hetta-Pallas trail opened to bikers in summer 2017
  • Creates a continuous c.300km XC mountain-bike trail – one of Europe's longest
  • 900km of national-park trails; c.90km groomed in winter for fat bikes

Ylimuonio – Puolitaival – Hetta, 38 km, demanding

This is the old postal trail between Ylimuonio and Hetta. There is an open hut in Puolitaival which can be rented if you wish to stay overnight en route. The northern 21km portion of this trail is effectively an old lost trail, with only a few upright mile markings. The second part of the trail (23km) has been digitally mapped.

Easy trail from Hetta to Sonkamuotka via Muotkajärvi (c.37km)

An alternative between Muonio and Hetta is to take the forestry roads that branch off after Sonkamuotka, cutting the corner off the main road. Follow the asphalt to the turn-off, just after a large layby and before a bridge under which a snowmobile route passes in winter. The forestry road runs first south then west – so you bike two opposite sides of a rectangle – but the gravel is far more interesting than the main road. Don't simply follow the most heavily used trails, since the newest roads track wherever felling is happening and it is surprisingly easy to get lost. The scenery is very pretty and well worth the effort. These gravel roads are lorry-wide and generally drivable by normal cars, but the surfaces are bumpy, so you'll want at least front suspension.

Hetta-Pallas

The Hetta-Pallas trail within the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park finally opened to bikers in summer 2017. Combined with the existing trails, this creates a continuous c.300km XC mountain-bike trail – one of the longest in Europe. From Hetta you can also continue north on other trails for another c.200km to reach the Arctic Ocean. The national park alone has a 900km network of trails of varying standards; in winter c.90km are regularly groomed, mainly for the increasingly popular fat bikes, many linking to unique wilderness cafes once reachable only by cross-country ski.

Map of the Ylimuonio biking route south of Hetta