The canyon walls
Near-vertical, 80 metres high, running 40 kilometres.
Lakkahillo — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Xepheid — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Xepheid — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Xepheid — CC BY-SA 4.0
A **strict nature reserve** rather than a national park, and the difference matters: the purpose here is **scientific research and protection**, not visiting. Its rules are accordingly the tightest of any site in Finland. At its heart is the **Kevo canyon**, the deepest in northern Europe: a cleft 40 kilometres long and up to **80 metres** deep, cut by the Kevojoki through rock over thousands of years. Its walls are near-vertical, and at the bottom are waterfalls and plants that do not grow on the exposed ground above. The reserve is also a long-standing research site — the University of Turku's Kevo biological station has operated here since 1958, and its data forms one of the longest continuous climate and ecology series in the Arctic. Note: **the central rule is that movement is permitted on the marked trails only.** Leaving them is forbidden without a research permit — this is law, not guidance. Note: **the main Kevo trail is 63 kilometres**, takes **three to four days**, and needs a tent and equipment. **There is no day route that reaches the heart of the canyon.**
Near-vertical, 80 metres high, running 40 kilometres.
Water and plants that do not grow on the exposed ground above.
63 kilometres with a tent, the only way to see the heart of it.
Utsjoki, Finland's far north — about 80 km north of Inari
The difference is **legal purpose**, and it changes what you may do. A **national park** is protected land **also designated for recreation**: it has trails, signs, open huts and fire sites, and Finland's **everyman's right** generally applies — walking, camping and picking over wide areas. A **strict nature reserve** exists primarily for **scientific research and undisturbed ecosystem preservation**, and everyman's right is **suspended** inside it: movement on marked trails only, camping only at designated spots, and no picking, no sample collecting and no leaving the path without a research permit. ⚠ Finland has 19 strict reserves and most are **closed to visitors entirely** — Kevo is an exception because it has a marked route through it.
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