Saariselkä village in winter

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Saariselkä is an outdoor resort village in the municipality of Inari, the largest municipality in Finland. It lies directly on the E75, 25 km from Ivalo airport, and is surrounded by open fells, forest and Urho Kekkonen National Park. Ivalo, where two thirds of the municipality's people live, is the service centre of the area; Saariselkä itself is built around hotels, cabins, apartments, restaurants and the safari companies, with the ski slopes right next to the village.

The whole municipality belongs to the Sámi homeland, and almost a third of its residents are Sámi. North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi are used officially alongside Finnish.

Arriving and finding your way

The airport bus of Eskelisen Lapin Linjat runs between Ivalo airport, Saariselkä and Kiilopää according to the flight schedule. It needs no reservation, you pay on board by cash or card, and suitcases, backpacks and skis are allowed. If a flight is cancelled, the bus does not run. The tourist office gives the drive from the airport as about 25 minutes.

In winter a ski bus links Ivalo, Saariselkä and Kiilopää, and a hop-on hop-off bus shuttles between the village and the ski area through the season. The 2026/27 timetables had not been published by mid-October, so check them before you travel. Kiilopää, a 546-metre fell with a marked trail of about 2 km each way to its summit, lies roughly 17 km away by road. Laanila and Kakslauttanen are further access points to the national park.

Slopes on two fells

The ski area spreads over Kaunispää and Iisakkipää. The resort lists 24 slopes, 16 of them lit, a longest run of 2,000 m and a vertical drop of 180 m, served by six lifts including one chairlift. There are two snowparks and two ski cross tracks, plus several very easy 100-metre slopes and a mini ski cross for beginners. A ski school takes both newcomers and experienced riders.

The tourist office calls it Finland's northernmost ski resort. For the 2026/27 winter, lift ticket rates run from 21 November 2026 to 3 April 2027, with off-season rates until 2 May 2027. Lift opening hours for the new season were not yet online in October. Children under 6 wearing a helmet ride the lifts free with a paying adult or an instructor, using an Axess SmartCard.

Kaunispää and the toboggan run

Kaunispää is the fell next to the village, and you can reach it on foot, by car or by ski lift; from the top the view stretches across the national park. Finland's longest toboggan run starts at the top of Kaunispää next to the lifts and is more than a kilometre long. Light art lines the run during lift hours, at its best in the polar night season from December to February, and its planned opening for the winter is 15 December 2026. Tobogganing outside lift hours is strictly prohibited, because snowcats and other maintenance vehicles work on the slopes then.

The run from the summit is not suitable for children under 7, and children shorter than 130 cm share a toboggan with an adult. The resort no longer hands out free toboggans, citing plastic waste, so rent one in a shop, at a hotel or at the base station. For small children, the free snowtube area in front of the Lieggâ Láávu restaurant is the easier choice.

Ski tracks and winter trails

According to the tourist office, about 200 km of maintained cross-country ski tracks start from the area. They are looked after by a local cooperative, Saariselän alueen Hoito-osuuskunta, and one trail fee covers the ski tracks, the winter trails and the snowmobile trails. Most tracks are groomed every morning, part of the network is lit from 6:00 to 22:00, and dogs are allowed on two tracks only, on a lead.

Saariselkä does not store snow from the previous winter. The first track is laid with a mix of artificial and natural snow, usually in late October or early November, and the main route from Saariselkä through Laanila, Kiilopää and Kakslauttanen to Tieva and Muotka opens first. Separate winter trails are maintained for walking, snowshoeing, cycling and walking a dog, while the ski tracks are for skiing only.

Light, cold and snow

The sun does not rise in Saariselkä from 6 December 2026 to 6 January 2027. On 21 December there are about five hours of civil twilight, from 09:36 to 14:41. By 1 March the sun is up from 07:33 to 17:14, and on 1 April it sets after 20:00.

Records from the weather station in the village give monthly averages over 1991 to 2020 of roughly −9 °C in December, −12 °C in January and −7 °C in March. The tourist office warns that temperatures can drop below −30 °C. In every winter of that period the snow cover was closed from 1 December to mid-April, and it was usually deepest in late March or early April, at around 80 cm.

Practical points

Tunturi Medical Centre, a private clinic at Lutontie 3, is open daily from 10:00 to 19:00. Ivalo Health Centre has a doctor on call around the clock, and the emergency number in Finland is 112. The tourist office recommends travel insurance before you set off.

Roads in Lapland are usually covered in packed snow or ice in winter, even the main roads. Reindeer wander onto them all year, and where you see one there are usually more, so slow down. Keep your headlights on at all times.

For activities that start here or collect you from the village, see things to do in Saariselkä. The trails into the park are described on our page about Urho Kekkonen National Park.