Stabbursdalen National Park

Stabbursdalen protects the northernmost pine forest on Earth, a stand of Scots pine growing in a sheltered river valley at almost 70 degrees north, hundreds of kilometres beyond where the species normally stops. The trees are slow-growing and gnarled, some several hundred years old, and the forest survives because the valley traps warmth and shelter that the surrounding plateau lacks. The park covers about 750 square kilometres and rises from the forest into open tundra and the Gaissene mountains. The Stabburselva river through it is a salmon river with a canyon section. The Stabbursnes nature centre at the park entrance covers the ecology, the Sami use of the area and the Porsangerfjord wetlands nearby.

What you actually see

• The northernmost pines - ancient slow-grown Scots pine at 70 degrees north.
• The river canyon - the Stabburselva cutting through the valley.
• The tundra above - open plateau and the Gaissene mountains.
• The nature centre - exhibitions on the forest, the Sami and the wetlands.

When to go

July to September for walking and the forest at its best; the midnight sun runs from May to late July. Autumn colour on the birch and tundra is strong in early September. Insects in July are heavy.

Honest expectations

The forest is impressive for its location rather than its scale, and visitors expecting tall timber will find low, twisted trees. Marked routes are limited beyond the valley floor, and the interior is trackless tundra. Facilities are a nature centre, a campsite and cabins.

Nearby

Trollholmsund is up the fjord road; Lakselv, Alta and the Porsangerfjord surround the park.