The Navvy trail

During the summer, the midnight sun shines and you can choose to hike or bike in the evening or at night in full daylight. The evenings have a little cooler and clearer air and you will experience a fantastic gold shining light of the evening sun. Along the way, there are remains after World War II and cultural monuments after the railway construction.

Abisko – Björkliden

In Abisko you can stay at STF Abisko mountain station or, a few kilometers away, in Abisko Östra. You can take either the train or a car and it takes about 1 hour to drive from Kiruna.
The Navvy trail between Abisko and Björkliden is about 8 kilometers long and runs in green terrain along the mountain Njullá. This part is easy to both cycle and hike. Here you can, among other things, see the remains of the first train tunnel, there are three large cairns that covers the tunnel. You can rent a bike either in Abisko or Björkliden.

Björkliden – Rallarkyrkogården

In Björkliden you can spend the night in cottages or the hotel with a beautiful view over the lake Torneträsk and Lapporten. From the hotel you walk down to the train-station in Björkliden village, pass the railway crossing and take to the left. The Navvy trail continues along the railway in a leafy and lush birch forest. With the help of your imagination, you can imagine how the navvies transported materials with horse and wagon along the road. You pass small waterfalls, where you can refill your water bottle and enjoy the easy hiking or cycling. The distance is 8 kilometers and marked with white/blue markings on the tree trunks. To the navvy graveyard it´s about 4 kilometers from the hotel and it takes about 3 hours to walk. Once you arrive to this place there are different choices. From the graveyard you can walk about 1,5 kilometers down to an old harbour area, Tornehamn. In the old days there were buildings and a protected port for boats. Nowadays, there are nothing left but it´s easy to imagine the mystic and life in the area. Walk or cycle back the same road to Björkliden.

Rallarkyrkogråden – Riksgränsen

The trail between the Navvy graveyard and Katterjokk is partly very nice, but some sections lack footbridges and can be wet. Part of the trail you need to walk along the E 10. It´s a fabulous view and you also pass Låktatjåkka train-station, where an awesome hike to Trollsjön starts. It´s about 25 kilometers to walk or cycle. If you have a tent with you, you can find your own beautiful place along the way. In Katterjokk you can spend the night at Katterjokk tourist station.

Riksgränsen – Rombaksbotn

The stretch between Riksgränsen and Rombaksbotn is about 15 kilometers long. This part of the trail offers both hiking and cycling above the tree line down to the sea (Fjord) with an incredible view over the sea (fjord). The highest point on the trail is about 600 meters above the sea level.  When you cross Björnefjell, you pass beautiful stone slabs and hundreds of small lakes nestled among hills and cottages on the Norwegian side. This part of the trail is wide, and you pass memorials from the navvy period and the second world war. If you choose to cycle on this part of the trail, you pass some technical parts with stones and cliffs, you need to have some more experience to cycle on this part. The last part of the trail is flatter when you reach the leafy valley surrounded by the steep mountains. Rombaksbotn is the end of the trail and from here the choice is to hike or cycle back or pre-book a tour on the RIB boat to Narvik. The RIB boat doesn´t depart every day and has a limited number of seats. If you want to hike and at the same time experience a folk festival, it´s highly recommended to walk the Svarta Björn Marsch where orchestras play along the way to honour the Navvies and Svarta Björn.