Skierfe / Rapa Valley
A few years ago, while planning a trip to Norway, I was looking for attractions along the way in northern Sweden. That’s when I came across photos of the Rapa Valley taken from the summit of Skierfe. The view of the Laitaure delta in those photos was stunning. Due to lack of time, I couldn’t see it back then, but recently I made a special trip just to see this iconic view.
Below is a handful of information to help you organize a trip there.
The route from the popular parking lot (Google Maps) to the summit of Skierfe is about 25 km, with around 1000 m of elevation gain. Round trip that’s 50 km, so doing it in one go is out of the question unless you’re an ultrarunner. You could consider doing it in 2 days, camping near the summit and returning the next day, but that means a full day of hiking each way and it will be quite exhausting. The option I went with was 3 days of hiking + 2 overnight stays.
Day 1
We leave the car at the parking lot by Sitoälvsbron: Google Maps. To get there you need to drive about 20 km on a gravel road, which was in excellent condition when we were there — passable by any car. There’s a latrine at the parking lot.
From the parking lot we hike about 17 km to the Aktse mountain cabin. The trail is relatively flat, through forest. After rainfall it gets very swampy and wet in places, so waterproof boots are a must. The first mountain views appear around km 9. Around km 10 there’s a boat landing with a view of the lake and mountains.
From km 10 all the way to Aktse we walk through swampy forest, with plenty of rocks and roots. At the end, we come out onto a clearing where the Aktse cabin is located.
Water: there are several larger and smaller streams along the route, roughly every 1–2 km. There’s a latrine before the boat landing.
Overnight 1 — Aktse
Aktse is one of the STF (Swedish Tourist Association) cabins. For a fee you can sleep there and use the amenities: shower, latrine, sauna, kitchen. There’s also a small shop — you can check the assortment on their website. If you don’t want to sleep in the cabin, you can pitch a tent nearby and pay to use the common facilities. If you don’t want to pay anything at all, you can still use the latrine. Stream water is piped into Aktse via a hose, so you can refill there.
Some people choose to camp higher up, toward Skierfe. That means giving up the cabin’s amenities (latrine, water) but potentially gaining better views and more privacy. We decided to camp in tents at Aktse, without using the common facilities.
Route: AllTrails — Sitoälvsbron to Aktse
Day 2
On the second day we leave our heavy backpacks in the tent and hike light up to Skierfe. The route is about 17 km with 850 m of elevation gain. After about 1 km, once you’re above the tree line, you get a long preview of what awaits at the summit of Skierfe — views over the Rapa Valley. After about 1.5 km you cross a boggy area; the trail is unmarked and there are several paths. For us, the route higher up worked best — it was noticeably drier.
The last kilometer before the summit is rocky and relatively steep compared to the rest of the route, but still a very easy climb. At the top of Skierfe, a breathtaking view of the river delta awaits.
We spent a few hours on the summit soaking in the view. Some people camp overnight up there to watch the sunrise or the northern lights.
There are few streams along this whole route, so it’s better to bring water with you. We return to Aktse the same way.
Overnight 2 — Aktse
We spend the night at Aktse again.
Day 3
On day 3 we pack up the tent and head back to the car along the same route.
Route: AllTrails — Sitoälvsbron to Aktse
Trip dates
We did the trek in the second week of September — we picked that timing because we’d read there are no mosquitoes then, and indeed, we hardly encountered any. As a bonus, we got beautiful autumn colors. The downside of September is freezing nights. Our 3-day trek fell on 3 days of completely sunny, windless weather, which is apparently rare, so we got very lucky.
Final notes
The view from Skierfe is truly captivating — one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in my life. It’s worth flying to Sweden just for this spot. If you don’t want to drive 3 days from Central Europe, the easiest way is to fly to Luleå or Kiruna with a layover in Stockholm and rent a car at the airport. If you have a week, I’d recommend combining the trip with treks in Abisko National Park and Stora Sjöfallet. If driving from Luleå, it’s worth seeing the Storforsen waterfall.
