Hiking & outdoor recreationLength24,9 km
Duration(3-4 days)
Degree of difficultyHard
The Piilola Trail is a demanding hiking trail because of its wilderness-like nature. You must have previous experience in hiking and good wilderness and orienteering skills. The trail has few structures that facilitate access, such as duckboards and bridges, and the rivers are mainly crossed by wading or stepping from one rock to another. The duckboards are in poor condition, and you should be careful when walking on them. The trail is marked with wooden poles on the Finnish side. On the Norwegian side, there are paint marks on the sides of trees or stones and also reflective hangers on tree branches. There are little elevation changes, but the rockiness of the terrain makes it slow to travel. The route is best to travel between mid-June and the end of September, i.e. after the spring floods, but before the first snowfall. The Piilola Trail is also a cultural trail that allows you to picture the life in the wilderness in the past. The life of wilderness houses on the shores of the fish-rich lakes was based on self-sufficiency. The hiking trail follows the old routes between wilderness houses and target villages, Finnish Nellim and Norwegian Vaggatem. The marks made with hatchets on the sides of older pine trees show the alignment of the former method of transport. If you continue along the route on the Norwegian side, the total length will be 35km.
The trail can only be used during the snow-free season
Camping permittedCamping is allowed under Everyone’s Rights.
HutPiilola open wilderness hut
Dry toiletRemember to bring toilet paper.
Remember to bring a trash bagThere are no waste bins on the trail. Bring along your own trash bag and take your waste out with you when leaving.
No water point
No winter maintenance
Contact information
Starting pointLähtöpiste: 68° 58.446', 28° 29.381, null null
The first few hundred metres of the Piilola Trail run in a forestry area, where the traces of forest use are clearly visible. Vätsäri Wilderness Reserve begins after a 3km walk on the trail.
The trail follows the shoreline of Lake Kessijärvi through old pine forests. The trail goes around the most difficult rocky areas.
After Lake Kessijärvi, Lakes Matalajärvi and Kuivaslompola are bypassed east of the lakes. This section also has crossings of ditches.
From Kuivaslompola follow the trail further from the lakes for 5.3 km towards Lake Nuottamajärvi, first in the mire area and then on a slightly dryer land.
Nuottamajärvi lean-to shelter is located about 9km from Kessijärvi. Before the lean-to shelter, you will cross the Naamajoki river bridge. The Hietikkolompola ditch is crossed by wading before the Piilola open wilderness hut.
After the Piilola open wilderness hut, the trail crosses mires with no duckboards across them. The journey culminates in crossing the Norwegian-Finnish border at the Piilola border crossing point. A reindeer fence separates the two states. It is approx. 3.8km from the Piilola wilderness hut to the border.
Norwegian Side Route Description (not shown on map): Piilolaporten-Ellenvannskoia 6.3km. The greatest elevation changes of the hiking route are in this section, but the climbs are moderate. Lake Ellenvatnet’s open water area dominates the landscapes in this section. When approaching the Ellenvannskoia open wilderness hut, there are info boards describing the nature and cultural history of the Övre Pasvik National Park.
Norwegian Side Route Description (not shown on map): Ellenvannskoia-Sortbrysttjern 4.4 km. The last section of the Piilola Trail, following the shores of Lake Sortbrysttjern, has info boards presenting the nature and cultural history of the national park. The last lean-to shelter is located about 2.4km from Ellenvannskoia wilderness hut. Following the shoreline of Lake Sortbrysttjern, you will reach the northern end of the Piilola trail.