Lemmenjoki National Park is a protected wilderness area in Finnish Lapland, spanning the municipalities of Inari and Kittilä in the far north of Finland. At 2,850 square kilometres, it is Finland’s largest national park and one of the biggest in Europe.
Established in 1956 and expanded twice since, the park takes its name from the 80-kilometre Lemmenjoki River that flows through the landscape. It shares a border with Norway’s Anárjohka National Park, forming part of a continuous cross-border wilderness. Around 21,100 visitors arrive each year, most of them backpackers drawn by 60 kilometres of marked trails, river crossings served by bridges and boats, and more than ten free wilderness huts. The park also supports a surviving tradition of small-scale gold prospecting: around 100 people work 40 claims each summer, and two small airfields — Martiniiskonpalo and Keurulainen — serve the remote digging areas with light aircraft access. The park’s name appears in Finnish, Inari Sami, Northern Sami and Norwegian, reflecting the Indigenous and cross-border character of this northern boreal territory.
