Sarek National Park

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Sarek National Park is number 5 on the map

The shores of lake Laitaure, with mountains Tjahkkelij (left) and Skierffe (centre).

People walking on skis in snow

Sarek River Delta

The Sarek National Park (official name in Swedish: Sareks nationalpark) is a national park in Jokkmokk Municipality, in the province Lapland in northern Sweden. Sarek borders to the national parks Stora Sjöfallet and Padjelanta. The national park is popular with hikers and mountaineers, although not suitable for beginners.

The national park is roughly circle shaped with an average diameter of around 50 kilometers. There are no marked trails in it and no accommodations, and only two bridges. Furthermore, the area is among the most rainy in Sweden, which makes hiking dependent on weather conditions.

The river delta of the Rapa River is considered one of Europe's prettiest, and the summit of mount Skierffe offers an overlook of this ice covered trough valley.

Most notably, the national park houses a number of high mountains of over 2,000 meters. Due to the long walk up, they are seldom climbed.

At 1,800 meters above sea-level lies the Pårte observatory, built in the early nineteen-hundreds, much thanks to a man named Axel Hamberg. The construction material had to be carried up on backs.

There are around 100 glaciers in Sarek National Park, which together with a few other national parks in Sweden is the oldest national park in Europe (1909-1910).

Resource

• [Sarek National Park] from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Naturvårdsverket.
• Part translated from German and Swedish wikipedia articles.

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