Abisko

Abisko was one of the nine parks Sweden designated in May 1909 — the first national parks anywhere in Europe — and it is still the easiest way into the Scandinavian mountains: the Malmbanan railway between Kiruna and Narvik runs straight through it, and the trailhead is a platform. The park itself is a modest 77 square kilometres of mountain birch forest on the south shore of Torneträsk, one of Sweden's largest lakes, with the Abiskojåkka river cutting a sheer-walled canyon through the middle of it on its way down from the fells.

What makes the valley unusual is the weather it doesn't get. Abisko sits in the rain shadow of the mountains along the Norwegian border, and with around 300 millimetres of precipitation a year it is one of the driest places in Sweden. The practical consequences run in every direction: unusually clear skies, which is why the Aurora Sky Station on the slopes of Nuolja above the park has become one of the most dependable places on earth to watch the northern lights; a mild, sheltered microclimate that lets an oddly rich flora grow this far north, orchids included on the lime-rich patches; and a scientific research station, working here since 1912, whose unbroken climate record is one of the longest in the Arctic.

This is also where the Kungsleden begins. The King's Trail leaves the Abisko mountain station and runs south more than four hundred kilometres through the mountains, and the first day's walk — up the birch-forested valley toward the U-shaped notch of Lapporten, the most photographed mountain profile in Sweden — is many people's first day in the fjäll ever. Lapporten itself stands just east of the park, but it hangs over the whole valley like a trademark.

What's worth knowing before you go

Access could hardly be simpler: night train from Stockholm or day train from Kiruna and Narvik, with two stops — Abisko Östra by the village and Abisko turiststation by the mountain station and park entrance. The naturum by the entrance is worth the half hour. Summer gives midnight sun from late May to mid-July and the season runs into late September; aurora season is roughly September to March, and the Sky Station chairlift runs on winter evenings. Book beds early in both seasons — the aurora boom has made winter as busy as summer.

The connoisseur's move is the canyon: the short trail along the Abiskojåkka gorge by the entrance is spectacular and mostly ignored by walkers striding off toward Lapporten, and in June it runs violent with meltwater.