Things to Do and See in Oulanka Visitor Centre

Hiking Trails Starting from the Visitor Centre

You will find the descriptions of the Oulanka National Park trails on the Oulanka National Park Trails website.

All year round

• Kiutakönkään polku Trail (1 km each way)
• Hiiden hurmos Trail (5 km)

During the Snow-Free Season

• Könkään kuohu Trail, accessible for all (0.3 km)
  • Note! the starting point is located 1.5 km from the nature centre by car.
• Rytikönkään reissu Trail (5 km)
• Könkään keino Trail (8 km)
• Karhunkierros Trail (several trail options)
• Biking Trail Oulanka Visitor Centre ‒ Taivalköngäs (9 km each way)

During the Snowy Season

• Kiutakönkään polku Trail (1 km each way)
• Hiiden hurmos Trail, a snowshoe trail 5 km
• The Kiutaköngäs – Juuma Wilderness Trail, a snowshoe and ski trail (26 km)

Exhibition

• An exhibition titled A River Flows by displays babbling streams, roaring rapids and thundering waterfalls. The sound of flowing water is the heartbeat of Oulanka National Park. In the national park, all kinds of wanderers travel through time and seasons. We kindly welcome you to visit the exhibition and watch a video presentation titled the “Land of Seasons”.
• Temporary exhibitions: nature-themed photographs and paintings are displayed at the restaurant and auditorium. If you are interested in exhibiting your works at the visitor centre, please contact the customer service (oulanka(at)metsa.fi). 

Guided Group Tours

Book a guided group tour in advance at the visitor centre's customer service desk.

• Group Tour to the Exhibition A River flows by, duration 1 hour
  • Target group: suitable for all ages.
  • Presentation of the Oulanka Visitor Centre's exhibition: introduction to the biodiversity, history and cultural heritage of the area, as well as an film presentation.
  • Price 50€/group (max. 30 people/group, incl. VAT 24%). Available by reservation all year round.

Guided Tours at the Visitor Centre

Please contact the visitor centre’s customer service (oulanka(at)metsa.fi) for making an advance booking for a guided group tour. It is worthwhile making the booking at least a couple of weeks prior to your arrival in Oulanka. When making the reservation, please notify us of your contact information and of your group, i.e. what kind of a group it is and how large it is. If there are more than 40 people in your group, there must be two guided group tours, as there is not enough space for such a large group in the visitor centre’s auditorium. It has space for approximately 30 people. Please also notify us of any special wishes regarding the contents of the tour that your group may have.

A Slide Show at the Auditorium Welcoming You to Oulanka National Park (length about 30 min.)

• This short slide show titled Tervetuloa Oulangan kansallispuistoon (“Welcome to Oulanka National Park”, in Finnish) at the visitor centre’s auditorium provides an overview to the unique natural features and rich cultural heritage of Oulanka National Park. After the slide show, the group will also watch a nature-themed film titled the “Land of Seasons”, which takes a quarter of an hour. It presents versatile species thriving in the national park and the gorgeous scenery in different seasons.
• Target group: suitable for viewers of all ages.
• The guided group tour is free of charge.

Guided Tours in the Wild

• Our partner enterprises organise guided tours, subject to a charge, in the national park.
• Guided nature excursions and hikes in Oulanka National Park can also be found on the Ruka website (ruka.fi).

Events

You will find the public events organised by the visitor centre on Oulanka events (in Finnish). 

Films at the Auditorium

At the visitor centre’s auditorium, you may watch short films about the national park. You may watch the films free of charge, either in a small group or with a larger bunch of people. Ask for more information from the customer service, either in advance or on the spot, and we will show the film.

Free-of-charge Video Presentations: 

1. Oulanka–Paanajärvi: The Land of Seasons (length 16 min., no speech). We recommend this film to all Oulanka visitors, as it provides gorgeous views of the landscape and presents the inhabitants of the national park in different seasons.
2. Welcome to the Land of National Parks – Landscape in the Oulanka, Hossa, Syöte and Riisitunturi National Parks (length 15 min., Finnish subtitles, English speech). A comprehensive overview to the wonderful natural features in the national parks of the Koillismaa region. The making of this film, which came out a couple of years ago, was also participated in by staff of the visitor centre.
3. Karhunkierros–Ruka vuonna 1969 (“Karhunkierros Trail–Ruka in 1969”, length 13 min., Finnish speech). This film is a nostalgic trip back in time when Karhunkierros Trail, which is currently almost 70 years old, was a new hiking trail. We recommend this video to fans of the Karhunkierros Trail, history enthusiasts and friends of old Finnish films.

Children's corner 

At the children’s play corner, younger hikers can try their luck in fishing by playing a fishing game and play nature-themed board games. The play corner also has plenty of children’s books, colouring pages and soft toys.

Reference Library

The visitor centre’s reference library has a wide collection of nature-themed literature, such as guide books for species identification and non-fiction on the region, available for visitors to read. The reference library is located upstairs, at the same level as the children’s play corner.