Arctic Circle Centre

The Arctic Circle runs at about 66 degrees 33 minutes north, the latitude above which the sun does not set at midsummer or rise at midwinter, and the E6 crosses it on the bare Saltfjellet plateau at around 680 metres. A visitor centre, Polarsirkelsenteret, was built there in 1990 with a shop, cafe, exhibition and the standard certificate for crossing, and stone cairns mark the line across the tundra outside. The setting is the point as much as the latitude: a treeless plateau of rock, bog and snow patches with mountains on both sides, often bleak even in July. The circle itself moves slightly year by year with the Earth's axial tilt, so the marked line is approximate.

History

The centre opened on 13 July 1990, on the same day as the new E6 road over Saltfjellet, in a 1,300-square-metre building designed to sit low in the landscape; a marble path through it marks the circle, and it now draws about 160,000 visitors a year. The line on the floor is already out of date: in the summer of 2009 the true Arctic Circle lay 1,039 metres further north, and it moves on by about 14.25 metres a year. Around the centre stand Russian and Yugoslav war memorials from the Second World War, and the post office stamps cards with its own Arctic Circle postmark (Norwegian Wikipedia, Polarsirkelsenteret).

The main sights

• The marked line - cairns and a monument across the plateau.
• The visitor centre - shop, cafe and exhibition at the crossing point.
• The Saltfjellet plateau - bare treeless high ground on both sides.
• The certificate - the traditional souvenir of crossing the circle.

When to go

June to September, when the centre is open and the road reliably clear; the E6 stays open in winter but the centre closes and conditions on the plateau can be severe. The midnight sun is visible from here around midsummer.

What to expect

The centre is a commercial stop with a large souvenir shop, and some visitors find it tacky. The plateau is exposed and cold, with snow lying into summer. The circle's position shifts slightly over time, so the marker is symbolic.

Nearby

Saltfjellet-Svartisen National Park surrounds the plateau; Mo i Rana and Fauske lie south and north.