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T1 Packrafting river Koutajoki-Savinajoki Oulanka National Park Finlandia

17.5km of packraft in the Savinajoki River canyon. Class II rapids.

By Packrafting.cat

November 16^th, 2024

Original post in Spanish at T1 Packrafting Koutajoki-Savinajoki river Oulanka National Park Finlandia

Oulanka National Park

See the main post with all the sections and information for Packraft and other activities in the Oulanka National Park in Finland.

https://blog.packrafting.cat/packraft-en-oulanka-national-park-finlandia

Otros tramos

I will explain in detail the following routes (under construction):

T1 Koutajoki - Savinajoki River -> Savilampi Lake. 17.5 km of class I-II
T2 Oulankajoki river Upper Part Oulanka - Oulanka National Park visitors center. 22.3 km of class II-IV rapids.
T3 Packrafting Oulankajoki lower part - Oulanka NP visitors center - Kiutakongas - Paljakka - Russian Border. 25.5 km of endless meanders!
T4 Kitkajoki Upper part. Käylä - Basecamp Oulanka. 14,5 km of Packraft class II-III.
T5 Packrafting Kitkajoki Lower part Juuma - Millikoski rapids - Aallokkokoski rapids
T6 Kuusinkijoki

If I had to choose only one I would recommend the T5 combined with the Pieni Karhunkierros Trail of 12 km.

In this post I explain in detail the T1 Koutajoki - Savinajoki River -> Savilampi Lake.

T1 Packrafting Koutajoki-Savinajoki river

Data:

Low difficulty with class I-II rapids.
17.5 km with a total difference in altitude of 60 m from 230 meters high at the embarkation to 170 m at Savilampi lake, that is an average difference in altitude of 3 m per km. It is a stretch almost without unevenness and that does not have any complication or remarkable rapid.
The physiognomy of the river combines open and canyoned sections.

The Savinajoki River is one of the most beautiful and must visit sections of the Oulanka National Park. Depending on the water level we can combine a trekking section and a Packraft section, or we can add the tributary Koutajoki and do the whole section in Packraft.

On the river

The starting point is the Karhunkierros Nature Center near Hautajärvi. This is the northern entrance to the famous 82 km long Karhunkierros trail.

Here we have two options:

Hike with our Packrafts in backpacks following the first 6 km of the Karhunkierros trail until we reach the free - 6 km hike from Hautajärvi to Perttumakoski lean-to shelter.
Navigate , water level permitting, the Koutajoki River to its junction with the Savinajoki River.

In any case, both sections are very interesting and if you have the opportunity I recommend you to do them both.

It is important to remember that the starting point of this route is very close to the Arctic Circle and you can find different information signs along the route!

Hautajärvi

In the web asiointi.maanmittauslaitos.fi there are some very detailed terrain maps that can be useful together with the maps that I provide (Wikiloc and Google Maps) to plan your route.

In the image below you can see the first section with the Koutajoki river that joins the Savinajoki river in the Viksjärvi lake. Navigating the Kouta river we will have to paddle approx. 5.6 km, cross and one km later we will arrive at the canyon that indicates the beginning of the Savinajoki river.

T1 Packrafting river Koutajoki-Savinajoki Oulanka National Park Finlandia

First area of the route along the Koutajoki River or the Karhunkierros trail. Start in Hautajärvi and end of the section at Lake ViksJaërvi, start of the Savinajoki river canyon.

North entrance to the Karhunkierros trail. Start of the 82 km that are possibly one of the best trails in Finland.

On the right, detail of the map of Oulanka national park with the section that we will do in the route proposed in this post.

In 900 m of navigation we find the first refuge/Laavu, which by the way, like most of the refuges, has a dry toilet and picnic area.

As you can see, the Karhunkierros trail crosses road 19835 (red line) the Koutajoki river at km 2.2. This bridge is an ideal place if you have a car to observe the water level in the Koutajoki river and decide if it is navigable or not. It can even be an alternative entry point to the river.

At km 2.5 km we cross under a beautiful suspension bridge where the Karhunkierros trail passes.

In 900 m of navigation we find the first refuge/Laavu, which by the way, like most shelters, has a dry toilet and picnic area.

At km 2.5 km we cross under a beautiful suspension bridge where the Karhunkierros trail passes.

Some Finnish words are basic to understand the maps:

Joki is the ending that together with the river name builds the toponymy of the full name of a river. Thus, Koutajoki is really "the river Kouta".
Laavu: is full of free "shelters"/laavus on the Karhunkierros road.
Järvi: it is the termination for lake.

And after passing through a nice canyon before reaching the Savilampi lake (km 5.6). Here with the name "Alakosket" (the translation would be downstream) starts a nice canyon, we are already at the Savinajoki river (km 6.7).

Perttumakoski

We enter in south direction to the area of the refuge (Laavu in the map) of Perttumakoski (km 8.3). Koski is the Finnish termination for rapids, in this area the river lacks a little more strength, but they are simple rapids that do not exceed class II of difficulty and as you can see are indicated on the map a few hundred meters below the refuge.

The hut is located on the first 28 km of the Karhunkierros trail from Hautajärvi to the Oulanka Visitor Centre.

This is the optional starting point if you decide to combine trekking+packraft or if the water level of the Joutajoki is not enough.

From the water you will be able to observe from the river, approximately at km 10, the Savinankongas waterfalls (kongas = waterfall).

Second area of the route. Savinajoki River starts from Lake ViksJaërvi to the SavinanKongas waterfalls. Surroundings of the Perttumakoski refuge.

Rupaviki Rock

The Rupaviki rock is one of the highlights of the Oulanka National Park. As you can see in the map on the right, the Karhunkierros trail runs along the right bank of the Savina river and is a very canyoned area with a beautiful landscape that combines large walls with boreal forests typical of the area.

The canyon starts at approximately km 12 and will accompany us until we reach the Savilampi lake.

The rock is just in front of the Laavu refuge (see more details in the photos below). This refuge is found after passing through some narrow canyons at kilometer point 14.

Third area of the route. Second section of the river canyon along the Savinajoki River. The Karhunkierros route runs parallel to the river and we will pass by the Rupaviki Rock.

Rupakivi Rock is a 5 meters high rock in the middle of the Savinajoki River (you can access the top of the rock thanks to our packrafts).

It is also accessible by walking 4 km from the parking lot of the circular route Kanjonin Kurkkaus, but it is a long escape route and a bit complicated, so the best way to access it is with our packrafts.

Rupaviki Rock and the shelter on the Karhunkierros path.

Savilampi Lake

We continue navigating between narrow walls of the Laavu Rupaviki Rock to Savilampi Lake (km 16.8), arriving at the lake we only have to turn right and paddle the remaining kilometer, finishing the 17.5 km of the first day's journey.

At the point marked as Take Out, there is a pier that is used for Kayaking in the Oulankajoki River. From this point we can:

If we have two cars we can drive to the parking lot of the Kanjonin Kurkkaus circular route where we have previously left a car to return to the start in Hautajärvi.
We can walk back along the Karhunkierros trail to the starting point.
We can spend the night in the Savilampi Autiotupa refuge, one of the best refuges in the area and located in a strategic point.

Final area of Lake Savilampi. Embarkation/disembarkation point at Lake Savilampo. In the surroundings we have the Oulanka canyon and the Savilampi refuge, a top refuge!

In summary, if you do the Packraft + Trekking combination, the approximate 17 km we have done sailing will be divided into:

6 km trekking from Hautajärvi to Perttumakoski lean-to shelter.
10 km paddling on the Savinajoki river starting at the Savilampi lake jetty.
1 km walk back to the Kanjonin Kurkkaus parking lot (by the way this parking lot is an ideal place for a Park4Night).

The route is easy enough to do with canoes, kayaks, sit-on-top or packrafts that are not specific to whitewater.

Kanjonin Kurkkaus Trail

An ideal plan for the afternoon once accommodated in the shelter of Savilampi. Consult the Outdooractive website, which has all the information on this circular route of 6 km (Kanjonin Kurkkaus Trail) that allows scouting the challenge of the next day, the passage of the Oulanka canyon in packraft.

See also the hiking trails on the Oulanka National Park website.

Details of the 6km Kanjonin Kurkkaus circular route, outdooractive website.

Google My Map

All the important points on the Packraft map in Oulanka National Park.

Wikiloc

Check the GPS coordinates of the Packrafting route along the Savinajoki River in Oulanka national Park.

Packrafting Koutajoki-Savinajoki river (Oulankajoki tributary) from the north entrance of Karhunkierros trail to Oulankajoki.

From Caj Koskinen's blog we know that they performed it at a flow rate of 24 m³/s measured at Savilampi. The flow rate is available at https://wwwi2.ymparisto.fi/i2/73/q7300100y/wqfi.html

Flow meter closest to the route, close to Kiutakongas, that is, much further down the river.

This section is very well explained in Caj Koskinen's blog, the article is:

https://hutkai.kuvat.fi/blog/107/the-river-savinajoki/

An inspiration, thanks to Caide78 and his Instagram account, I got to know this wonderful place that is the Oulanka National Park.

Olen Caj Koskinen, the local expert. Thanks to your blog I discovered Oulanka!

Caj Koskinen has also posted some videos on Youtube that are worth watching:

https://hutkai.kuvat.fi/blog/107/the-river-savinajoki/

The environment is beautiful, undoubtedly one of the best shelters in which to spend the night.

In front of the Savilampi refuge there is a bridge that allows you to cross the river and continue south at Karhunkierros trail in the direction of the Oulanka visitor center.

From the same refuge we can embark to resume our route following the Oulankajoki River.

The little beach of the refuge near the Wildfire!

Around Savilampi hut, the quality of free huts is TOP in Finland!

See you (with some big balls "on fire") in the river!

The river is a living environment, changing and subject to permanent development. The publishers of the river sketches and the creators of this website cannot be held responsible in any case in case of inaccuracy, omission or error in the river sketches. The topos editors and website creators disclaim all liability in case of any accident that may occur on the rivers described in this guide.