[social_icons type='normal_social' icon_pack='font_awesome' icon='fa-facebook' fe_icon='' custom_size='18' custom_shape_size='' link='https://www.facebook.com/visitsealapland' target='_blank' icon_color='#ffffff' icon_hover_color='#ffffff' background_color='' background_hover_color='' border_width='' border_radius='' border_color='' border_hover_color='' icon_margin='' wpml_language='all' title='' use_custom_size='yes' ][social_icons type='normal_social' icon_pack='font_awesome' icon='fa-instagram' fe_icon='' custom_size='20' custom_shape_size='' link='https://www.instagram.com/visitsealapland' target='_blank' icon_color='#ffffff' icon_hover_color='#ffffff' background_color='' background_hover_color='' border_width='' border_radius='' border_color='' border_hover_color='' icon_margin='' wpml_language='all' title='' use_custom_size='yes' ]
The unspoiled nature in Sea Lapland offers plenty of opportunities for hiking: nature trails are close by and hiking tracks with natural duckboards are well-maintained for pleasant trekking.
The many rivers, tree-covered hills and the sea, the scenery filled with wide open fields and mires, form the harmoniously alternating natural features of Sea Lapland.
Bird watching and treasure-hunting, the world-widely popular geocaching is a fun and pleasant way to enjoy the outdoors.
Go berry-picking or find delicious mushrooms: an extensive part of the Finnish forests is registered as protected areas for picking organic berries, mushrooms, and herbs. The Finnish liberal law of public access invites anyone to roam freely in the forests, to go camping in nature and enjoy these treasures. Before deciding to go on an excursion though, it is advisable to check these areas to find the appropriate ones.
The Bothnian Bay Archipelago National Park
Long ago the archipelago on the Bothnian Bay National Park was formed due to land uplift, which evermore causes a constant, very gradual change in the natural features of the region. The traditional fishing bases and the nature trail under the water surface, designed for divers, are worth seeing. You can access the National Park by boat; at the biggest Island Selkä-Sarvi, you’ll find a small harbor and a lean-to with a camp-fire. Trekking through the 1 km nature trail traversing the island, will crown your excursion.
Sandskär, situated in the Haparanda Archipelago National Park, is known for its long sandy beaches and decorative sand-formations. A 5 km beautiful nature trail traverses the island.
Safe and convenient hiking
Finland’s most important place designated for protection of mire-areas, the Martimoaapa in Simo, offers both interesting hiking terrain for trekkers and beautiful hill landscape for easy wandering. The Alkunkarinlahti Nature Trail, Nationally Protected Bird-watching Site, 9 km south from the center of Tornio, offers bird-watchtowers and campfire sites along the trail.
In Kätkävaara in the Tervola commune, the hilltops with no trees rise to the heights, rivers with clear water run through the valleys, traversing the open bog mires and wild forests in the region. The Pisavaara Natural Park, the highest tree-covered hill in southern Lapland, is the strictest protected Natural Park in all of Europe.
The Simo Land Uplift Natural Park
Land uplift in Scandinavia is due to the Ice Age. The last Ice Age ”Veiksel” caused the Scandinavia and part of Europe to be covered with a thick continental glacier.
Since the past 10 000 years, the removal of the weight from the depressed land has been slowly happening and this can be seen in the shoreline of the sea moving further away from the coast. On the 10 guideposts at the Simo Land Uplift National Park, you can study the changes in the shoreline over the last 500 years.
