Visttasjohka + Kaitum; An User Manual For Arguably the Greatest Packraft Adventure in Europe
- Alex
- Aug 26
- 4 min read
Jenny and I completed a 230 km hiking and packrafting trip in northern Sweden. This trip had a flavor of Canada and Alaska, featuring some of the most remote areas in Europe and combining scenic terrain with exciting whitewater paddling.
The Kaitum River is well known for fishing and has been paddled many times. By combining it with the Visttasjohka and starting from Abisko, the route offers a varied itinerary with a good balance of hiking and paddling. This trip showcases what multi-day packrafting adventures can offer and has the potential to become a classic in the packrafting community. It’s still a hidden gem, and although we hesitated to publicize it, it would feel selfish not to share.
Chapter 1 // Kungsleden ~50 km Hiking
The trip starts in Abisko, with about 35 kmf hiking along the famous Kungsleden trail. The goal is to reach Visttasvaggi. You can shorten the hiking distance slightly by paddling across Alisjávri Lake. From there, continue another 10 km to reach the put-in on the Visttasjohka River.
As soon as you leave the “crowded” Kungsleden, you enter a much wilder area and one of the most beautiful valleys I have ever visited.
Chapter 2 // Visttasjohka River ~40 km Paddling
We put in at this location:
From the put-in to STF Visttasstugan, we encountered a few strainers (fallen trees lying in the stream) that required attention. Otherwise, the rapids are easy and require no scouting.
About 4 km after the STF cabin, there is a suspension bridge followed by a short section most paddlers will want to portage. Make sure to stop before the bridge and scout this section.
After that comes a fun stretch of class II/III rapids, straightforward, clean, for. which we didn't do any scouting.
The last rapids are near Lisas stuga, a small cabin that can serve as an emergency shelter. From there, the river flattens into about 20 km of calm water, making for an easy paddle down to Nikkaluokta.
Tip: Nikkaluokta offers resupply options and bus connections back to Kiruna, making it a convenient exit point if you wish to shorten the trip.
Chapter 3 // Nikkaluokta – Tjuonajokk ~30 km Hiking
You’ll encounter quite a few people in Nikkaluokta, as it is the starting point for hikes to Kebnekaise, Sweden’s highest peak. From there, we headed in the opposite direction and entered the wildest part of the trip.
The trail crosses several swamps, with either rotten or missing duckboards, which slows progress. According to the logbook in the emergency cabin along the way, fewer than ten parties pass through each year, most in winter by snowmobile. In contrast, we saw hundreds of reindeer, with Kebnekaise in the background; this is proper Sámi territory.
The trail ends at the Tjuonajokk fishing camp, open only four months per year to host fishing enthusiasts and accessible solely by foot or helicopter. It’s a unique location that almost made me want to start fishing.
Chapter 4 // Tjuonajokk – Lappeasuando ~110 km Paddling
From Tjuonajokk, the journey is all paddling, with a mix of easy rapids, long flatwater sections as the river widens into lakes, and a few portages to avoid technical sections.
Here is a map of the river with rapid classification:
You can shorten the trip by exiting at Kaitum village, but you would miss many some fun rapids and a beautiful change in landscape reminding of Canadian forests.
Logistical Considerations
Access:
Abisko is easily reached by car or train. The train station is literally at the start of Kungsleden.
Distance & Duration:
Around 230 km total; we completed the trip in 11 days and planned for 15 days of food autonomy. We had two days of very short progress due to poor weather and we even started hiking at 4 pm on the first day, so depending on weather, fitness, and motivation, this route could be done faster or much slower.
Exit:
The trip ends at a rest stop on the E10 called Lappeasuando, about a 50-minute drive south of Kiruna. The closest bus stop is roughly 5 km south, where you can catch a bus to Kiruna and then another bus or train to Abisko. There is a hotel restaurant that offers a transportation service to the bus stop for 200 SEK per person for a 5-minute drive. Our dirtbag mindset couldn’t justify such a ridiculous cost, so we simply hitchhiked back to Abisko, which, if you’re lucky, is the fastest and cheapest way to return to the starting point.
Accommodation:
STF cabins, emergency shelters, and rest cabins are often available but it would be a shame not to sleep in tent. Emergency/rest cabins are not meant for sleeping but can be useful in heavy rain.
Food:
Resupply is possible at Nikkaluokta (lockers available for rent). You can also cache food near Kaitum or Killinge to reduce backpack weight, though this adds logistical complexity. We ate mostly freeze-dried meals from Real Turmat, supplemented with high-calorie snacks. and a ridiculous amount of blueberries and cloudberries, that we found nearly everyday. We used a gas stove to boil water, carrying two 230 g Primus canisters. Wood is available everywhere along the route if needed.
When to do it:
July - August seems to be the best time of the year. It is not rare to have snowfall in this area in September. Ultimately the trade of is between mosquitoes and cold temperature.
Bugs:
Yes, possibly a lot. Bring all your defensive tool box; long sleeve, spray, face net.
Packraft:
Our boat of choice was the Kokopelli Nirvana self-bailing packraft. It was exactly what we needed to handle this trip with a great balance between weight and capability.
Here are some extra resources that could be helpful:
My favorite mobile phone maps app for Sweden, it is free and function offline but has very limited navigation capability.
Hydrology data of Swedish rivers:
During my research I stumbled to this blog post with an in depth trip report of this itinerary: