The happy colours of Lapland, Finland

Mountain Bike Mag
Oct 7
10 min read

Floating saunas, northern lights, shamanic wisdom dispensed by the fire, and endless trails crossing multi-coloured fjells: a bike tour through the resplendent autumn landscape of Lapland almost verges on sensory overload.

Ruska is the Finnish word to describe the spectacular autumn phenomenon that transforms the countryside into an explosion of colour. This seasonal spectacle usually lasts about two weeks. Golden birch leaves hang from white, gnarled branches, a beautiful contrast to the flaming red carpet of blueberry bushes on the forest floor. The low-lying late-afternoon sun bathes the surroundings in a soft, warm light, further deepening the blue of the lakes.

This second summer is an unparalleled natural event in Lapland, and we are lucky enough to be here for one of these weeks. However, we didn’t realise our good fortune until we landed far north of the Arctic circle, in Kittilä. As soon as we left the airport, we couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the blaze of colours around us. On both sides of the road, we see nothing but the rich colours of autumn forests. Hardly surprising, as forest covers 70% of the region.

Here and there we catch glimpses of little settlements and their typical red wooden houses. “The colour originally came from the red oxide sludge left from the mine tailings. These little settlements usually consist of a few homes, a guest house, a bakery, barns and outbuildings. The reason they’re so spread out is so they don’t all go up in flames if there’s a fire. After all, we have enough space,” explains Juha, our driver. His family has been living in the Levi area for over 500 years. He and his wife Heidi operate travel agency Polar Star Travel, and we’re thrilled at being able to travel around with locals whose roots run deep.

Warm and wooden

Our log house accommodations couldn’t be more authentic. It’s the perfect movie backdrop. The natural building materials exude cosiness in every single room. It belongs to a family of hunters, as evidenced by the many pelts and antlers adorning the walls. In addition to a few bedrooms and a living area and adjoining kitchen flooded in natural light, there is, of course, the requisite sauna.

Saunas have a long history in Finland and are an essential component of Finnish life. “A house isn’t complete without a sauna,” Juha explains, laughing. “There are over three million in Finland!” Later on, we meet Heidi in the “pihvipirtti”, which means steakhouse. The old floorboards creak as we step into the room. Floors, ceilings, walls, chairs. All made with wood. The counter, on which is spread a huge buffet, is made of natural rock. The ambiance is sublime.

Our supper marks the start of a culinary week extraordinaire. Vegetables, herbs and potatoes are grown right outside the door. Low levels of air pollution and the long daylight hours of summer allow plants to flourish. In turn, these healthy plants feed the animals, mostly reindeer, a staple food in Lapland. The meat is particularly tender, with a taste unlike anything we’ve ever had.

Reindeer is served in every form imaginable: reindeer fillet, reindeer stew, reindeer burgers and cutlets, and even reindeer-stuffed elk. The creativity in the kitchen knows no bounds. After our taste buds have been fully stimulated over the course of an entertaining evening, we return to our accommodations, comfortably satiated. “The programme for the next few days sounds so exciting,” Fränzi happily declares. With much anticipation, we slip under the chequered blankets in our cosy beds in the log house.

Fjells and lakeland views

We don’t have much time the next day to get warmed up. The narrow trail winds its way through dense forest, and after just a few minutes, it climbs steeply. We actually have to get off and push, and later, shoulder our bikes. “Who would have thought that we’d have to carry our bikes in this flat countryside,” I say, laughing. We’re biking along one of the many fjells in the area. Coming from the Swiss Alps, we’d call these elevations hills. The treeless plateaus open out onto a magnificent view over endless swathes of land. Fjells come in all shapes and sizes and are the perfect destination for mountain bikers and hikers, as there are usually narrow, delightful paths that lead right to the top.

Once we’re in the saddle again, we head back out towards the tree line. The colourful vegetation is smaller, the view extends further. “You can just look and look, for hours on end. And all those lakes!” Fränzi is thrilled. We don’t stay at the highest point for very long, as a storm is brewing in the distance. Thanks to the amazing view, we can already spot it on the horizon. We turn our bikes around and are happy to make our first descent in Lapland. The ground is really grippy, with the trail turning left, then right, here a root for jumping, there a technical challenge on steep steps – the trail is perfect, even if we still don’t feel completely warmed up. We can’t help but grin when we come upon a rustic log cabin at the foot of the fjell.

Gratefully, we sink into the pelt-covered lounge chairs in front of the log cabin, its overly decorated exterior almost kitschy. Elk antlers, ancient skis, lanterns, strawflower bouquets – once again, we can’t help but think that we’ve been dropped into the middle of a movie set. But we get used to it because this is how they do things in northern Finland.

Finland is also known for its coffee consumption, ranking first in the world, and our steaming hot coffee is served in wooden kuksa. These cups, made with birchwood, are the traditional drinking vessel of the Sami, Lapland’s original inhabitants, and are still very much in use wherever we go. It’s as though the Finns have carefully thought out every aspect of life because the architecture perfectly complements the dishes.

The other thing they’ve carefully considered is how well damp, cold weather goes with saunas, as we find out on our visit to one of the many sauna parks. The sky is just starting to open up again when we reach the sauna huts located on the shores of a deep, blue lake. We sit on the generous wooden benches, sweating, enjoying the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The golden birch leaves are reflected on the choppy lake. “I couldn’t imagine a better way to end a day of biking,” I say, interrupting our silent reverie and pouring more water on the hot rocks.

Trails and shamanic tales

On the next day’s programme is a visit to Levi Bike Park. The map shows 16 different routes or partial routes. It’s got everything, from easy blue trails to a World Cup black trail. There are also two enduro routes that go around the park’s perimeter.

The gondola takes us up the 310 vertical metres to the top. The summit station is high above the tree line and offers an impressive panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. The trail conditions vary. We’re surprised by the diverse terrain in the park. From rough nature trails following shaped flow lines to challenging stretches featuring big jumps and wooden structures, the trails guarantee that bikers will have a great time, regardless of their skill level.

We spend several hours having fun on the trails until our forearms are burning. On the exciting red trail, aptly named “Santa’s Cabin,” we actually do come across a real movie set. The windswept cabin is right beside the trail. This is where little Nikolas from the movie Christmas Story grew up. He would later become Santa Claus.

Our evening is no less exciting than the trails in the Bike Park. For dinner, we go to see the local shaman. The word “shaman” is posted on a small, six-sided little house, so we know we’ve found the right place. These cabins, called kota, were originally meant to shelter hunters and foresters. They have a fire pit in the middle and now they’re often used as a grill cabin of sorts. We have to duck down to get through the doorway, and the door falls shut behind us.

We’ve barely sat down when a terrifying apparition steps into the room. After a ritual that includes the shaman painting our faces with charcoal and poking a stick into the fire until sparks wildly fly up to the ceiling, the pelt-clad healer shows himself to be an incredible storyteller and cook. He fills the evening with exciting stories from Lapland’s mythology, all the while feeding us fish he has caught and vegetables from his garden. We learn a lot about his family, and that he comes from a long line of natural healers. “Even now, many Finns live in tune with nature and feel the magic it embodies,” he tells us. Enchanted by his tales, it was quite late when we finally left the kota.

On walking out into the darkness, we experience our very own magic moment. The night sky is lit up with a display of shimmering lights. Green and purple northern lights dance between the stars and are reflected on the lake. “Quick, come look!” “Wow, they’re getting bigger and bigger!” “Amazing, did you see the ones back there?” We keep pointing up at the sky, calling out to one another in amazement.

None of us had ever seen the northern lights. Of course, we’d hoped to see some, but we didn’t really believe we would. Now we’re as happy as kids seeing snow for the first time. Truly a unique show. Deep in the night, once the cold has penetrated our bones, we head back. Despite the hour, we decide it’s not too late to fire up the sauna in our log house. “That’s something everyone has to see at least once in their life,” I maintain.

Huskies and a floating sauna

We don’t fill our coffee cups until much later the next morning. The country and its inhabitants exude a calm and serenity that is hard to ignore. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why Finland ranked at the top of the 2021 “World Happiness Report” for the fourth time in a row. We’re happy, too. Happy about the many experiences over such a short time, and about the little trails that we take around noon to get to a husky farm. Centuries-old fisher huts with densely overgrown roofs blend seamlessly into the landscape. The sense of urgency we’d brought with us has all but disappeared. We savour every moment, give ourselves time to take little breaks, and enjoy nature.

At Levi Husky Park, we fall head over heels. The trusting animals, with their dense fur and light-blue eyes are all it takes to turn us into total Lapland fans. On a tour through the park, we feed foxes, play with huskies, and even kiss a reindeer. We discover many interesting things about reindeer, too. “They can swim for many kilometres. They don’t drown because of their coat, which traps pockets of air, keeping them insulated and afloat,” explains our young tour guide. She’s clearly enthusiastic about what she does. “Reindeer can change their eye colour. In the summer, when it’s light all day and all night in the high north, their eyes are golden in colour, and in the darkness of winter, they turn dark blue,” she explains.

Our route back, naturally, takes us past a sauna. But not just any sauna. This one is floating. This construction is definitely unique to this part of the world. A house is built onto a wooden platform that is kept afloat with large pontoons. A white fence surrounds the platform. Four outboard motors propel the behemoth through the water. Inside, beside a large common area, there is a huge sauna with a woodstove. When we get there, smoke is already rising from the chimney. We step onto the boat via a gate. The house slowly moves away from shore. “I can’t believe it! We’re in a house, heading across a lake into the sunset!” I can’t help but grin. “OK, let’s hit the sauna, and then we’ll dive into the lake!” Fränzi is bursting with enthusiasm. Three sauna rounds later, each followed by a jump in the lake, and we head back. “This is so amazing,” Martin comments, with delight.

Forests and a feast

The bike tour on the following day takes us to Rouvivaara, an expansive plateau 560m above sea level and overgrown with moss. In our eyes, this doesn’t really seem like a big hill. But still, the wind blows in fierce gusts across the treeless plateau, and with the incredible panoramic view, the hill seems much higher.

The trail is rocky in parts, making it tough to move forward, but otherwise, it’s a very well-balanced mountain bike outing and is imbued with that Lapland experience. Logs have been laid down side-by-side wherever the ground is soft and boggy, forming a rough boardwalk of sorts. We meet a few hikers. But we’re the only ones on bikes. The descents wind their way down from the plateau into the dense forest, where we see tree trunks deformed into abstract sculptures by the wind and the weather.

Our tour starts and stops at a lake called Hietajärvi. On our return, Heidi and Juha welcome us into a half-open hut with a beautiful view of the water. A fire is already burning in a pit in the middle, and a whole salmon is being grilled on a board carefully placed by the fire’s edge. Potatoes are roasting in the hot coals. The delicious aroma wafts behind the hut, where we’re busy stowing away our bikes. “There’s always firewood here, and it’s open for use by everyone,” Heidi explains. “Many people come here, even entire families with kids. It’s a relaxed place for people to come together.” As the daylight fades, more and more stars appear. “What a beautiful evening out here,” I say, looking to the sky. It’s with a hint of melancholy that we pack our things and make our way back late in the evening.

The sixth season

Another day on our bikes is awaiting us in the region around Ylläs. There’s a well-described, exciting network of biking trails here. Various rental shops, bike shops and restaurants round out the offer. Only marked bike trails can be used in Palla-Ylläs National Park. Maps and information can be found in the tourist office. The routes are well signed and lead through gnarled, magical forests or up to the area’s fjells so that on some of the routes, a few hundred vertical metres add up quickly.

We almost feel a bit exotic with our regular mountain bikes, as most people are riding fat bikes. These make sense, especially in the winter and on soft ground. Early in the afternoon, we find ourselves overcome by hunger. We find a restaurant, where we closely study a map showing the many different tour options. Unfortunately, there’s not enough time for us to do the nearly 100km ride to Levi. “Sounds exciting, though. I guess we’ll just have to come back,” grins Fränzi, biting into her reindeer burger.

“What is it with the sixth season that I heard about?” I ask Juha on our last evening together. “The Sami split the year into eight seasons,” he explains. “So in addition to winter, there’s also early winter and late winter. The same applies to summer. And ruska, or autumn, is the sixth season in the Sami calendar.” We agree that these beautiful weeks fully deserve their own season, because biking along lonely paths through a light-filled, resplendently colourful forest on days like this truly is a magical experience.