Katja Kristoferson/Folio/imagebank.sweden.se
Exploring the King’s Trail and Conquering Kebnekaise
Kungsleden, or King’s Trail, is Sweden’s (some claim the world’s) best hiking trail, cutting through Lapland’s mountainous wilderness in the far north. We explored some of the most beautiful segments between Saltoluokta and Abisko.
By Kajsa Norman
Snickers bars and five packs of noodles is all the food that my father and I grab as we jump in the car on a sunny August day on a trip to hike the King’s Trail. The rest of the family shakes their heads at us, so we throw a few cans of tuna into our backpacks as well before starting our journey northward.
Driving through Törö, south of Gällivare, we see our first reindeer, and seconds later, a road sign informs us that we have now entered Lapland.
Kungsleden winds 430 kilometers through the mountain world of
Lapland – from Hemavan in the south to Abisko in the north. It crosses four national parks: Abisko, Stora Sjöfallet, Sarek, and Pieljekaise, leading hikers through lush birch forests, vast mountain heaths, and between snow-capped peaks.
Every year, Kungsleden attracts thousands of visitors from near and far, with its northernmost section serving as the biggest draw. There are welltrodden paths for those seeking company, as well as lesser-known sections where you can walk for hours without encountering anyone.
The trail was established in the
early 1900s at the initiative of the Swedish Tourist Association, with the aim of connecting the most beautiful places in the Swedish mountain world and creating the "king of trails." Along the way, there is a well-developed system of huts and mountain stations where hikers can stay and, in most cases, replenish their food supplies.
In addition to its breathtaking natural beauty, the King’s Trail offers rich wildlife such as bears, moose, lynxes, and wolverines. A large number of bird species can also be found here, including peregrine falcons, whitetailed eagles, and golden eagles. Large
Photo:
parts of the trail pass through reindeer herding areas, where hikers must show respect and consideration for the grazing herds.
Hiking the entire length of the King’s Trail (467 kilometres or 290 miles) takes most people several weeks. However, many choose to hike only a portion, perhaps just 2–3 days or a week.
My father and I have opted to hike some of the most beautiful and popular segments between Saltoluokta and Abisko, a total distance of 149 km. We leave the car in Kiruna and take the morning bus via Gällivare to Vakkotavare, where we begin our hike in Stora Sjöfallet National Park towards Teusajaure. The mosquitoes mob us as soon as we step off the bus. We are grateful for our newly purchased hats
with built-in mosquito nets that can be pulled down over our faces. No wonder the only advertisements at the gas stations and rest stops along the way were for mosquito repellent – specifically the brand Myggjavlar.se, which literally translates as fuckingmosquitos.se
The hike begins with a long ascent in the pouring rain, first through mountain birch forest and then onto the barren tundra. The trail winds in switchbacks among the birches, leading away from the main road between Ritsem and Gällivare. Eventually, the incline levels out, and the trail stretches across vast heathlands, until we reach the edge of a lake where we find an empty row boat waiting for us. We cross the glassy water to a beautifully situated lakefront mountain hut, complete with a beach and a sauna. As we row in, we’re greeted
by a group of naked, sauna-bathing Finns standing on the shoreline.
It is peak season, so by the time we arrive, every bed is taken. But since all visitors are guaranteed a place to sleep (otherwise nobody would dare to hike without a tent), we are allowed to sleep on mattresses on the floor – I in the drying room and my father in the kitchen. Not ideal, but at least it’s warm, and our rain-soaked clothes have time to dry. It is nice to not have to worry about hauling a tent along in addition to other supplies.
In the hut, we meet a British family hiking for six weeks with three children, aged 7, 8, and 9. They must be insane, we comment, but their kids seem enthusiastic, albeit slightly brainwashed. “All you really need is water,” says the earnest 9-year-old and lovingly
From Hemavan in the south to Abisko in the north, the King’s Trail passes through four national parks. Photos: Private
ruffles the curls of his ginger-haired brother who nods in agreement.
“If this lake were in the Alps, three cities would have sprung up around it,” comments the mother and points to the perfect mirror of the lake below the hut. Undeniably true.
The next day, we leave Teusajaure and hike two sections. The first is a steep 9-kilometer climb to Kaitumjaure, featuring a waterfall cascading in steps down the mountainside into lush greenery. After stopping for lunch, we continue on to the second section – the 16 kilometers to Singi, where we will spend the night. At first the path is marked by mountain birch – small and scraggly but remarkably resilient to survive in this harsh environment. Then, even the mountain birches disappear and the landscape tapers down to barren tundra, occasionally dotted with strange white flowers resembling tufts of cotton.
sleep in proper beds. We cook noodles and fall asleep, sore but content, after swapping stories with a group from Alingsås and some King’s Trail veterans from Stockholm.
We hike bathed in the seemingly endless light of Lapland summers, picking the odd cloudberry, following trails scented by marshland. We pass through an old reindeer herding area, where remnants of traditional Sámi dwellings and grazing sites are visible.
“Jokk” is the Sámi word for stream. However, the water doesn’t stream, it roars. Loudly like a helicopter or the distant rumble of a train, it crashes down. And it tastes delicious, cold and pure.
We spend our second night in the Singi huts, and this time, we are able to
The following morning, we cover the 14 kilometers from Singi to STF Kebnekaise Mountain Station. This section passes through the narrow and occasionally dramatic Laddjuvagge, home to some of Sweden’s most classic climbing routes.
The distances must be measured as the crow flies because what sounds like short hikes take a long time. We walk almost non-stop, yet it takes us six hours to finish the 14 kilometers. My father is done walking. He repeats various intonations of “helicopter” all day, with an exasperated “heli-kopeter” being the most common. Even without a tent, we each carry about 16 kg of gear, and in the rugged terrain it is starting to take its toll on his 68-yearold frame.
We arrive at Kebnekaise Mountain Station – the northernmost mountain station of the King’s Trail – in perfect time for a sauna and dinner. Unlike the other huts, this camp offers every comfort imaginable, so we splurge on a three-course dinner at Elsa’s restaurant. The menu includes reindeer heart, reindeer sausage, moose sausage, and various types of fish. The main course is bacon-wrapped cod with smashed potatoes (boiled, flattened, and oven-baked with oil and sea salt). Dessert is lime pudding with blueberries.
With a full belly, I attend the safety briefing ahead of my attempt to summit Kebnekaise, Sweden’s tallest mountain at 2 097 meters (close to 7,000 ft) above sea level.
I’ve signed up for an organized tour with five other people and our guide, Mattias. We set out early via the eastern route to Kebnekaise’s glaciated southern peak, which is steeper
The eastern route to Kebnekaise’s southern peak involves glacier walking and some climbing. Photo: Private
now. This is a monumental project which has already started and is receiving attention worldwide.
Finding the new location followed a somewhat chaotic process. In 2007 it was decided to situate the new city centre to the north-west of its present location, and some preparatory work was started. But Sámi reindeer herders objected to the choice as it would interfere with their traditional reindeer grazing territory. In 2010 it was therefore decided to change the location to a place 3 km to the east. The move was initiated in 2014 and will be completed by 2035.
The reaction of Kiruna’s inhabitants to the move is mixed. Most agree that the action is unavoidable and look forward to the new experience. Only around 6000 people among the population of 18,000 will be obliged to move. Not everyone among them is happy about the terms that are being proposed to them. Displaced house owners are offered financial compensation based on the market value of their home plus a 25 percent bonus, but who decides the “market value” of a doomed piece of property? Can it be appealed? Others bemoan the loss of precious memories and the long distance between the remaining residences in the old town and the new city centre. And, looking to the future, what will happen to the city after 2035 when the mining has reached such depths that further activity becomes unprofitable? These are unsettling questions for many resettlers.
A new railway station was one of the first parts of the project to open. In September 2022, the city’s brandnew commercial center opened, three kilometers east of the old downtown.
To date, the new Kiruna is a virtually deserted cityscape consisting mostly of apartment buildings in typical Swedish post-modern architecture with nods to ecology, minimalism, hi-tech, expressionism and neofunctionalism. Several, if not all, of the multi-storey buildings are made of wood. The contours are all straight lines and straight angles, except for the circular City Hall and the Scandic hotel whose roof resembles a ski slope. The colour of the facades are mostly brown, white or black. The black colour is surprising, as it is rarely found elsewhere in Sweden. At street level there are many empty store windows awaiting tenants to move in from old Kiruna. The streets and sidewalks are only partially paved, and there are few cars and pedestrians to be seen. There is little landscaping as of yet. In the outskirts of town are some terraced houses painted in politically correct rainbow colours. Vast areas of terrain are being prepared to accommodate future industries.
By 2035, more than 20 buildings of historical value will have been relocated to the new downtown district. Some are to be lifted while others have to be dismantled and reconstructed. In 2026, the wooden church of Kiruna, once voted the most beautiful old building in the country, is due to be moved to its new location near the local graveyard. Once some of the historic landmarks are in place, new Kiruna will hopefully become as vibrant as the old town has been for over a century.
Space Activities
Not far from the city of Kiruna sits another, very modern draw for visitors, Esrange, a spaceport which
launches high-altitude ballons and sounding rockets. A sounding rocket is a space vehicle that is fired several hundred kilometers straight up into space and then falls back down to Earth. It is different from the heavier space rockets that place satellites in orbits or send probes into deep space. During the 10 minutes or so that the sounding rocket falls freely back to Earth, the onboard payload experiences weightlessness, which is favourable for conducting certain scientific experiments. Other sounding rockets collect measurements of the ionosphere’s and atmosphere’s composition at various altitudes – e.g. to study the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights).
But the people at Esrange have ambitions that go beyond sending up balloons and sounding rockets. Their sights are set on launching orbiting satellites. Since 2014, Swedish Space Corporatioon (SSC) has worked on creating a Swedish orbital launch program. As a result, Esrange Spaceport was inaugurated in 2023 to host satellite launches.
The first awaited satellite launch from Esrange is scheduled for 2025, made possible by SSC’s partnership with Perigee Aerospace Inc. of South Korea, a privately owned developer and manufacturer of orbital and suborbital launch vehicles. Perigee will launch its Blue Whale 1 rocket from the new launch facility.
Moreover, SSC and U.S. space transportation company Firefly Aerospace have signed a collaborative agreement to launch satellites using the Firefly’s Alpha rocket starting in 2026. Hence, in the future, Kiruna might become an alternative to Florida’s Space Coast for fans of all things space related.
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