Wilderness Hiking in Sweden: Hiking in Sarek National Park & Rapadalen in Lapland

Photos from top: 1,2: Håkan Hjort/Niac-photo;3: Bosse Lind/Paragonbild

Download a free desktop image for this tour

Sarek National Park

Covering an area of almost 200,000 hectares, Sarek is strikingly alpine for Sweden with magnificent mountain ranges and narrow valleys, glaciers and wild rapids. It is a splendid piece of unspoiled wilderness. The park contains over 200 mountains over 1,800 metres. Six of Sweden's 13 highest mountains are found here, as are about 100 glaciers.

Rapadalen valley is the artery of Sarek. The Rapaätno river has an enormous flow and carries green glacial water from about thirty glaciers. Rapadalen contains dense thickets of mountain birch, osier and herbaceous plants. The flora is rather poor in most of the park, but the animal life in the great valleys is rich. If you are lucky you can see bear, wolverine, lynx or one of the unusually large elks.

Hiking and Trekking > Sarek and the Unknown Face of the Rapa Valley Delta

At a glance

Duration: 9 days

Dates/Period: 24.07-01.08.09

Price: from £491/person for members of Hostelling International, YHA or STF (Swedish Tourist Association). Membership of STF can be arranged through us for approx. £26/adult.

Groups of min.6 can book this experience on other dates by arrangement.

Accommodation: 8 nights' tented accommodation in high quality mountain tents during tour.

Required: To do this hike you need be healthy with a normal level of fitness and be used to hiking in alpine conditions. The distance covered each day varies between 10-20km. Recommended minimum age 18 years.

Map of Sweden

A true wilderness expedition into the untamed mountains of Sarek National Park

Trekking holidays in Sweden: Lapland

Visions of Sarek National Park - "Europe's Last Wilderness" - are the stuff of dreams for many a hiking enthusiast. Together with a guide and like-minded mountain adventurers, you will take a journey through the Sarek mountains and gain a unique insight into a magical area of northern Sweden. The attraction of Sarek is that it is wholly untamed - no marked paths exist to guide you through its breathtaking landscape of mountains and valleys.

2009 marks the 100th anniversary of Sarek National Park, and the route for this year has been specially chosen to showcase the diversity of this beautiful area, offering stunning views of moorland to the west, the dramatic high alpine peaks of the Sarek mountain chain with their glacial landscape, and the rainforest-like vegetation of the Rapa Valley (or "Rapadalen" in Swedish). The itinerary also includes time for day excursions and peak tours, allowing you to the explore Sarek's wild beauty with lighter packs.

Photo: Håkan Hjort/Niac-photo

During the hike you will also learn a great deal of mountain craft - including how to assess the weather and wind, the snow and the glaciers, and what to look for when choosing where to pitch camp for the night.

Sarek is a wild and challenging environment, but you do not need to be an expert adventurer to participate. Distances covered daily are manageable, but if you would like to take part in this experience, you should have some experience of mountain hikes carrying a tent and be fit. You should bear in mind that you will need to count on adding another 6-8kg to your personal pack weight to allow for food, tent, kitchen equipment and fuel.

As always in Sarek it is the weather that decides the itinerary. As with any mountain environment, conditions can be unpredictable and your guide may choose to alter the route depending on circumstances. But whatever route you take, you will find the space and freedom of Sarek an uplifting, some would say spiritual, experience, far from the trappings of the modern world.

Sarek National Park is a place to cleanse your soul and rediscover what it really means to be alive!