Abisko & Vadvetjåkka
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NATIONAL PARKS IN NORRBOTTEN COUNTY Abisko & Vadvetjåkka The Ábeskoeatnu Delta at its outflow into Torneträsk. Beyond, the Dotterel with young. Photo: Thomas Öberg. Abisko Scientific Research station and Lapporten. Photo: Tomas Utsi Cover: Ábeskoeatnu Canyon. Photo: Tomas Utsi. 2012 in Abisko National Park was inaugurated in 1909. It covers 77 sq km, of Printed • which more than half is mountain birch forest. Vadvetjåkka National Park was inaugurated in 1920 and has neither trails nor amenities. It covers Legend: 26 sq km, most of which is treeless mountain. Both national parks lie in Reklambyrå Kiruna Municipality. They are included in the EU ecological network of protected areas, Natura 2000. Armada Graphics: • § Regulations in Abisko and Vadvetjåkka national parks The complete regulations can be viewed on www.lansstyrelsen.se. Pajala Within the national parks it is forbidden among other things to ELEX, • pitch a tent, except where indicated (applies to Abisko National Park) • destroy or damage natural objects or the ground surface • pick or dig up plants (it is permissible to pick berries and mushrooms) Translation: • • fell or damage growing or dead trees (one may use dry branches to Norr i make a fire) • kill, capture, fish or hunt animals, or remove eggs or nests Natur • bring a dog or other animal (During the period 1 Jan-30 Apr one may Öberg, however bring a dog on a leash and in Abisko at all times of year bring a dog on a leash on roads and marked trails, and in the immediate vicinity of the tourist station and Ábeskojávri cabins.) Thomas • land an aircraft or use motor-driven vehicles off designated roads Text: or snowmobile trails (however, it is permitted to travel by motorboat Abisko National Park Vadvetjåkka National Park on Lake Torneträsk except for areas closed to visitors) • during the period 1 May-31 July, it is forbidden to stay in the You can get to Abisko either by train, or by car/coach on the E10. Close Vadvetjåkka National Park is less accessible. From the Kopparåsen Ábeskoeatnu Delta, which is a bird sanctuary. to the tourist station lies Naturum Abisko, an information centre for stopover on the E10 and the Ore Line, it is a walk of over 10 kilometres mountain nature and culture. There are Naturum guides who can answer to the park boundary. There is a bridge across the outlet of Lake Vuolip your questions, and show you the exhibition and slideshow. They also Njuorajávri, but the brooks and streams must be waded. arrange tours in the national park. Close to Naturum, the King’s Trail starts its journey south, a hiking trail towards Gorsavággi to the southwest, a chair lift to Njullá summit and during the winter a snowmobile trail through the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten. Tel: +46 (0)920-96000 • www.lansstyrelsen.se national park. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Tel: +46 (0)8-6981000 • www.naturvardsverket.se Lapland Rosebay and Mountain Avens grow where the ground is rich in Njuoraeatnu delta land in Vadvetjåkka National Park. The Bluethroat on its way to the nest with food. Marking reindeer calves in Gabna reindeer herding community. lime. Photo: Thomas Öberg. Photo: Tomas Utsi. Lynx with young. Photo: Peter Rosén. Photo: Peter Rosén. Flowering fell Two national parks – close but so different Abisko National Park Landscape for Mankind Happiness is to lie down on a mountain moor, Abisko and Vadvetjåkka national parks are just 20 kilometres Abisko National Park comprises a mountain valley formed by The Sámi have for thousands of years used the Torneträsk satisfied and tired, surrounded by apart. Abisko is more accessible than Vadvetjåkka, close to a inland ice. Here, Ábeskoeatnu stream tumbles through a canyon area as their hunting grounds for wild reindeer, and more Mountain Avens and Moss Campion in bloom. railway and main road, and with the King’s Trail running right between sheer limestone and shale cliffs. The river finally forms recently as forage land for their semi-domesticated reindeer. The air is filled with the ripple of streams through it. It is in rain shadow east of the mountain range, and a bird-rich delta emptying into Torneträsk lake. Abisko features There are trapping pits from ancient wild reindeer hunting, and the Golden Plover’s fluting. annual precipitation is only 300 mm. Vadvetjåkka lies closer to the many alpine plants – lime-rich slopes with Mountain Avens, lávvu dwelling sites and ancient hearths. Abisko National Park Beneath hovering woolly clouds, a Golden Eagle sails. sea and has three times the precipitation. Both parks feature Lapland Rosebay, Arctic Bell-heather and Moss Campion, verdant is a core area for reindeer herding in Gabna reindeer herding And your personal organiser is far, far away. treeless mountains, mountain birch forest, wetlands and delta mountain birch forests with tall plants such as Alpine Blue community. It is here the newborn reindeer calves first lands. Epirrita autumnaria larvae have there eaten some of the Sow-Thistle and Globeflower, and virgin forest with ancient pines. encounter bare ground and verdant forage. Vadvetjåkka is an The year’s first day birch forest. One can see dead trunks from the butterflies’ attack. Much comprises dry mountain moors or mountain birch forests important summer forage area of Talma reindeer herding com- Pastel midwinter light. with Blue Heath and Common Crowberry. Ábeskoeatnu canyon munity. It is important that visitors avoid disturbing reindeer or Who said Lapland winters are dark? Vadvetjåkka National Park and Njullá’s slopes feature plants favoured by lime. Scarce the herding. From Njullá’s summit I look out over Torneträsk lake, species include Arctic Lygnis and Arctic Arnica as well as the Vadvetjåkka is a small national park named after Vadvetjåkka The Ore Line from Kiruna to Narvik passes through the glistening with week-old ice. Bluntleaved Orchid on creep soil areas. Mountain. It features Sweden’s northernmost glacier, only 1,000 northern part of Abisko National Park. It opened for rail traffic A skater makes his way metres above sea level. Glaciers form at high altitude where snow in 1902. In the same year, the first tourist cabin was built in between the sandbanks in the Abisko Delta. Wildlife collects and turns into ice. The national park borders on Norway in Abisko. The Ore Line transports iron ore from the mines to the On the slope above me, Ptarmigan croak. Bear, lynx and wolverine occur in both parks. They are hard to the north, and on valleys containing streams in the west and east. ice-free harbour, but quickly proved its usefulness to As so often in Abisko, there is little snow. glimpse, but in winter the tracks of wolverine and sometimes lynx It comprises mostly treeless mountains with summits up to 1,200 mountain tourism. Abisko Tourist Station was built in 1906, We zigzag between jutting rocks, metres. To the south, the mountain gives way to deciduous forests can be seen on the wide expanses. 213 bird species have been and the King’s Trail leading south was marked out 20 years skiing some of the way on a frosty mat of Trailing Azalea. and Njuoraeatnu delta land, known for its abundance of birds noted in the Abisko area. Ring Ouzel and Arctic Warbler are heard later. When the E10 was completed to Narvik in 1984, In six months it will explode into pink bloom. and moose. Since the mountain is calcareous, its slopes feature on the slopes of Njullá. Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, mountain tourism increased further. Down there in the valley, mountain birch stand, rich flora, including Mountain Avens, Purple Saxifrage, Rock Rough-legged Buzzard and Gyrfalcon hunt above the mountain. alongside ancient pines, frosty white. Speedwell and Scandinavian Primula. In the national park and just Other birch forest birds include Common Red Poll, Willow Warbler Scientist have been coming to the Torneträsk area for over a At the treeline, we cross the loping trail of the wolverine west of it, subterranean water has formed some of the deepest and Brambling, in willow thicket, Bluethroat and on mountain century. Abisko Scientific Research Station has the national park as a main research field, and is today a cornerstone in and the footprints of some Willow Grouse in the fresh snow. limestone caves in Sweden. moors Golden Plover and Dotterel. On wetlands, the mating cries international alpine and environmental research. Studies here We stop over beside Ábeskoeatnu stream. of the Wood Sandpiper, Whimbrel and Common Greenshank . deal in particular with the effects of climate change on the We do not get to see the otter, just its snow-slide, sound in the spring night. The Red-throated Diver nests in small tarns. The thin snow covering in Abisko means large numbers of Arctic landscape. down the limestone cliffs. moose congregate in the mountain forest in winter. .