Arctic Post Road

The land above the Arctic circle is not the most well-known bikepacking destination, not even for Finns or Norwegians. I was no exception, despite the fact that I've snowboarded on these mountains outside Ylläs for years. When I heard about the 400km Arctic Post Road route from Ylläs, Finland to Alta, Norway, I knew she had to see what was under the snow. I invited Sami Sauri from Spain to join me for this bikepacking adventure in the Arctic.

The Arctic Post Road bikepacking route follows the remnants of the old Copenhagen-Alta post road. It starts from the fells of Pallas-Ylläs National Park in Finnish Lapland and runs through the Finnmark Highlands all the way to Alta on the Arctic Ocean. The wilderness area created by Finnish and Norwegian Lapland is three times the size of Belgium and one of the largest spaces like this in Europe. Our route is a combination of the gravel and MTB routes.

With a reindeer-to-man ratio of 5:4, you will likely encounter more reindeer than people on the trails. However, reindeer are not here to be adorable entertainment for bikers, they are also economically important for many Lappish and Sámi. To respect that, the route is closed during the critical season in late September when herds of thousands of reindeer are gathered together for fall round-ups.

Besides that, it is also recommended to take Räkkä into consideration – that’s the season when there is high population of mosquitos, black flies, biting midges and horse flies in the Arctic, unless you plan on wearing a full body mosquito net while riding. Despite never having been to Lapland before, Sami had heard all about the mosquitoes and duly came prepared with a mosquito head net, bracelets and repellent. Räkkä starts usually by late June and lasts usually till mid-August which makes the end of summer and fall a great time for bikepacking in the Arctic. By September, the Northern lights often light up the night sky as well.

Get to know the other routes of Arctic by Cycle bikepacking route network arcticbycycle.com

You can watch the film about our Arctic Post Road bikepacking trip: