Salla

History:

A remnant of a wooden ski was found from Särkiaapa mire in 1938. Nowadays that 5,000-year-old ski is conserved in the National Museum of Finland and it is the oldest known ski in the world. In the 16th century hunting for furs was the main industry in the area, then called Kuolajärvi. The area belonged to Kemijärvi parish but due to poor connections the locals built their own chapel in 1828 and in 1857 an independent parish was formed. Later on forestry became important. In absence of roads the logs were driven downstream along the river Kemijoki (the longest river in Finland) and its tributaries.

During the early 1900s, communism gained ground among the timbers at the loggings. In 1922 this culminated into a short communist rebellion known as Läskikapina, the Pork Mutiny.

The name of the municipality was changed to Salla in 1936. Much of the municipality's area was lost to the Soviet Union in the peace treaties of WW2. These areas are now called "Old Salla". Among the lost territories was the parish village Kuolajärvi and therefore a new parish village was built by the lake Märkäjärvi, near the geographic centre of what was left. During the Lapland War the retreating German troops devastated most of the villages.

In June 1960 a forest fire burned 20,000 hectares of forest near Tuntsa. This is the largest forest fire in Finland. Some parts of the burned area have remained treeless ever since.

The population grew from 1,500 in 1860 to 11,000 in 1966. Since then it has declined, first with migration to Sweden (which then was much richer than Finland and needed workers in its industry), later with domestic urbanisation. In 2019 the population was some 3400 of which 1600 in the parish village. The population trend is still declining.

National road 82 from Rovaniemi via Kemijärvi is the main route to Salla. The road continues to the Russian border, which however is closed as of 2026. Regional road 950 branches off from national road 5 from Kuusamo in the south and leads via Oulanka and the Salla resort to the parish village of Salla.

By bus:

There are daily coaches from Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi and Kuusamo. A coach ride from Kemijärvi takes an hour, from Rovaniemi 2–3 hours and all the way from Helsinki 17–22 hours. A bus ticket costs around €30/adult from Rovaniemi and around €110/adult from Helsinki.

By train:

There are rail services from the southern Finland to Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi. The journey from Helsinki (14 hr to the latter), Tampere or Turku is quite comfortable in a sleeper. Cars can be taken on the train at least from Helsinki (check where car-carrying cars in different trains are taken). The VR sells trips to Sallatunturi resort on a combined ticket. The overnight train arrives in Kemijärvi at 10:50 and a JunaBussi coach takes you straight to the resort via Salla main village. A single ticket costs from €100/adult. Check VR travel search for details.

The railway through Salla to Russia has mainly been used for small scale domestic freight, never for passenger traffic across the border. As of 2026 it is partly deconstructed.

By plane:

The nearest airports are in Kuusamo and Rovaniemi. A flight from Helsinki takes about 1½ hr, the bus connection 2 respectively 3 hr.

By car:

If you drive yourself, reserve at least all the day for the 900 km journey from the south and check road and weather conditions. You could reserve more time and do some sightseeing along highway 4 (E75) or highway 5 (E63). Wintry conditions are possible late in the spring or even in early summer. Studded tyres are allowed if you think the road may be slippery (otherwise to one week after Easter).