Paanajärvi National Park

Paanajärvi is a lake twenty-four kilometres long, one to one and a half wide, and up to a hundred and twenty-eight metres deep - unusually deep for its size, filling a tectonic trough gouged by ice, with fells rising steeply on both sides. The park around it protects a hundred and four thousand hectares in the far north-west of Karelia against the Finnish border, on ground that is old even by Baltic shield standards. Nuorunen, at 576 metres, is the highest fell in Karelia and carries seids, boulders set on smaller stones by pre-Christian Sami practice. There are waterfalls on the Olanga, taiga with brown bear, wolverine, elk and golden eagle, and mid-winter darkness with aurora. Numbers are strictly limited and everything is by permit obtained in advance from the park office at Pyaozersky, with routes and camping places assigned; turning up without one gets you turned back.

What you actually see

• The trough lake - twenty-four kilometres long and a hundred and twenty-eight deep.
• Nuorunen - Karelia's highest fell at 576 metres, with pre-Christian seid boulders.
• The Olanga falls - waterfalls on the river running out of the lake.
• The permit system - assigned routes and campsites, strictly enforced.

When to go

July to September for walking; March for ski routes. Three days to a week. Permits must be arranged well in advance through the park office.

Honest expectations

Permits are compulsory and limited - without one you will be refused entry. Very remote, with a long rough road and no services. Mosquitoes and blackfly in July are extreme. Brown bears are present and food storage rules apply. Weather changes fast on the fells.

Nearby

Pyaozersky is the park office and last supply point; the Finnish border is west.