Kungsleden and Kebnekaise

Sweden'S Highest Mountain And Its Best Known Long Distance Trail, The King'S Trail, With Staffed Mountain Huts Through The Lapland Fells · Nikkaluokta, Norrbotten County

Kungsleden, the King's Trail, is Sweden's best-known long-distance path, running roughly 440 km through the Lapland fells from Abisko in the north to Hemavan in the south. It was laid out from the late 1800s by the Swedish Tourist Association (STF), which still runs a chain of mountain huts along it. The classic northern section, Abisko to Nikkaluokta, takes most walkers about 5-7 days through treeless valleys, past the huts at Alesjaure, Salka and Singi, over the Tjaktja pass, and out past the Kebnekaise Fjallstation, the base for Sweden's highest mountain. Kebnekaise's glaciated south peak has melted so much that the rocky north peak, at about 2,097 m, is now the highest point in the country. People come for days of open fell walking under the midnight sun, with no roads and a warm hut at the end of each stage. The honest caveat: the huts are staffed only in short seasons, the weather can turn to snow in July, and mosquitoes in the valleys can be miserable in early summer.

Kebnekaise Fjallstation, reached on foot (or boat and foot) from the road end at Nikkaluokta, about 65 km west of Kiruna; Kungsleden runs about 440 km from Abisko to Hemavan, Nikkaluokta, Norrbotten County, Sweden

The trail and the fells are open all year, but it is really usable in two seasons. The STF huts are usually staffed from roughly late June or early July to around mid or late September for summer walking, and again from about late February or March to around early May for ski touring; confirm the exact dates for the current year, because they shift with snow. Outside those weeks the huts are closed or only a small emergency room is left open. Kebnekaise Fjallstation keeps similar seasons, with rooms, a restaurant and a shop. Getting there: take the train (the night train from Stockholm or Norrtag trains) to Abisko Turiststation for the northern start; the southern end at Nikkaluokta is a road end about 65 km west of Kiruna, reached by a summer bus or taxi from Kiruna - check the timetable. Beds at the Fjallstation and guided Kebnekaise ascents must be booked ahead in July and August; hut bunks mostly cannot be reserved, but no one is turned away into the night.

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