Karhunkierros (The Bear’s Trail)
About the Bear Trail
The Karhunkierros, also known as the Bear’s Trail, is a stunning trek through the pristine wilderness of Finland. Spanning 78 kilometers, this trail typically takes about 4 days to complete, making it a perfect adventure for those looking to immerse themselves in nature. The route is well-marked and offers a variety of landscapes, from dense forests to open fells and serene riverbanks. Hikers will experience the true beauty of Finland’s natural environment as they traverse this iconic trail. You can see our outdoor maps page to find all the specific maps of Finland.
Starting at Napapiiri Cafe, the trek begins with a gentle introduction to the Finnish countryside. The journey ends at Ruka, a popular ski resort known for its beautiful scenery and vibrant atmosphere. Along the way, trekkers will pass through picturesque landscapes, including the verdant forests of Oulanka National Park and the rugged cliffs along the Kitka River, offering breathtaking views and photo opportunities.
The Karhunkierros is rich with points of interest, such as the Oulanka Canyon and Jyrävä Waterfall, which are sure to captivate any nature enthusiast. Outonome.com provides comprehensive resources to help plan your adventure, including detailed itinerary pages with maps, waypoints, and planning tools to customize your trek. Whether you need information on accommodations, trail conditions, or downloadable GPX files, outonome.com ensures you are well-prepared for your journey on the Karhunkierros.
78.18 km
Medium
~4 days
491 m
2228 m
2098 m
Country crossed : Finland 
Karhunkierros steps
How to use the outonome.com tabloguide ?
Doing the Karhunkierros in the reverse way
You can change the direction of the itinerary by pressing the “Normal way” button. The Karhunkierros will switch from the classic way to the reverse way.
Trail or hike the Bear Trail
You can press the button on the hiking boot to switch to trail mode, this will automatically change the steps times.
Adapt the Bear Trail steps to your physical condition
You can select your physical condition from 5 choices to have step times automatically recalculated so you can better prepare your itinerary or steps.
Calculate walking times between two steps
In the tabloguide, to the left of each step is a greyed-out circle, simply click on the 2-steps circles to have the path time calculated according to the data you’ve selected (hike/trail and physical condition) as well as distance, time, altitude difference, etc….
View a step on the map
By clicking on the map dot icon to the left of a step name, the site scrolls down to where the map is and zooms in on the exact location of the step.
See off-trail and variants of the Karhunkierros
On some steps, to the right of the name, there are blue squares (variants, which momentarily take another path and then join it) or yellow squares (off-trails, which go completely off the itinerary). These squares are clickable and open the linked steps.
Get information on each step of the Karhunkierros
For each step are shown estimated walking times (according to the parameters selected), the distance between the previous step and this one, the positive and negative vertical drop, and the minimum and maximum altitudes reached during the step.
Locate refuges, bivouacs, hotels, supermarkets, restaurants, buses on each Bear Trail step
On each step line, on the right-hand side of the tabloguide, you’ll find: bivouacs, refuges, hotels, guesthouses, supermarkets, restaurants, cafés, buses, trains. If one of these is located at the step, there is a tick, otherwise there is nothing.
List of Bear Trail variants
Kanjonin Kurkkaus, Savilamminniemi, Along the Oulankajoki, Luontopolku, Luontopolku hiiden hurmos, Oulangan Erämaareitti (talvireitti), Along the Kitkajoki, Vuosseli Monikäyttöreitti, Virkkula, Porontima
List of Bear Trail offtrails
Rytiniva, Kalliojärven, Kiutajärvi, Isojärvi, Hrrihauta, Juuma, Porontima, Virkkula, Pikku Pyhävaara
Karhunkierros map
Karhunkierros GPX Track
A GPX (GPS Exchange Format) track is a file format used to record GPS positioning data, such as waypoints and tracks recorded during a hiking or trail activity, for example. It can be used to plan a hike, follow an existing route or share location information with others.
The Karhunkierros GPX track, for example, follows the classical Bear Trail itinerary and includes all steps, such as:
Hautäjarvi, Ruka, Jussinkämppä (autiotupa and kota), Myllykoski päivätupa, Valtavaara (päivätupa and kota), Taivalköngäs (autiotupa), Siilastupa (autiotupa), Basecamp Oulanka, Kiutaköngäs (nuotiopaikka), Ristikallio (autiotupa), Savilampi (autiotupa), Korpikahvila, Puikkokämppä (autiotupa), Taivalkönkään (laavu), Kiutajärvi (laavu), Konttainen… Outonome.com offers you the Bear Trail track for free. Simply enter your email address in the field below and you’ll receive it immediately !
More information
Here you’ll find more topics related to self-guided travel and the Karhunkierros, in greater detail, exploring other possibilities, letting you discover new things about it and other ways to complete this itinerary !
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