An Easy and Stunning Snowshoeing Trail on Koli’s Peaks in Eastern Finland

One of Finland’s most beautiful and easiest snowshoeing trails runs through the national landscapes of Koli, and despite its short distance, it is impressive. The Koli Peaks Snowshoe Trail is an official route maintained by Metsähallitus, intended solely for travel by snowshoes. Its length is 1.9 kilometers, although you can also deviate on foot onto the packed trails.

Starting point on the map
Trail length: 1.9 km
Accessible: no (during the snow-free season there is a demanding accessible route of 0.8 km in the area)
Fire site: A campfire site is located near the Ukko Nature Center. You can buy firewood at Ukko.
Arriving by car: Koli Nature Center Ukko, Ylä-kolintie 39, Lieksa

You can rent, among other things, snowshoes from the rental shop at the Koli Nature Center Ukko. Whatever the season, it’s worth stopping by Ukko to ask for the best and most up-to-date tips for excursions in Koli. Read more.

Rent snowshoes from Ukko

The marked route begins in the backyard of the Ukko Nature Center. In the blink of an eye, we plunged into precisely the kind of fairytale land often admired on postcards. The snowshoe trail, marked with different colored ribbons on tree branches, was well packed and therefore easy to follow—and breathtakingly beautiful! Almost immediately, the trail snaked from among candle-like spruce trees to an open area along the edge of a cliff, leaving our jaws hanging in amazement! As the mass of clouds dispersed, it opened up the view far over the snow-covered hills of North Karelia.

For a first-time snowshoer, it feels a bit like having duck feet, as the wide and long plastic fixtures under your feet support your steps. It’s advisable to familiarize yourself with the snowshoe adjustment mechanisms indoors without gloves on, so that tightening and releasing the straps in the biting wind will be smoother. In practice, you simply tighten the snowshoes over any winter footwear, which is quite handy. If your shoe size is extremely large, make sure at the rental shop or store that your footwear fits into the snowshoes.

The Koli Snowshoe Trail meanders gently at first near the peaks, then ascends to the Temple of Silence at the base of Akka-Koli. Snowshoes have good spikes and serrated metal teeth roughly at the toes, which grip the snow and ice with each step. We climbed a short, steep bump up to Akka-Koli.

Here and there along the trail, you could see spots where a careless traveler had tried to step off the route without snowshoes, and their foot had slipped a few dozen centimeters into the snowdrift. I was very pleased that we had proper snowshoes and that we brought our poles, which we normally use for skiing.

It’s very easy to follow a prepared trail with snowshoes, but the adventurous charm of the equipment is that they truly allow you to stomp through pathless deep snow in winter. Deep snow is always deep snow, and you’ll definitely work up a sweat trudging through it, but without snowshoes it would be practically impossible. The vegetation rests beneath the drifts, and stepping over it with snowshoes does not harm the forest floor. Traveling across open marshes is also easier and more sustainable on snowshoes or skis than it is in summer with rubber boots.

If you wish, you could easily complete the Koli Peaks Snowshoe Trail in under an hour, though with scenic admiration, photography, and snack breaks, it’s wise to allow a couple of hours to take in the national landscapes.