Description
For closures, national park rules, and the official trail sheet for this circuit, start with the Pahanojankuru loop materials on Luontoon.fi. The same trail is widely known by the older marketing name Hetehaltijan lumous (“Enchantment of Hetehaltija”) and was formerly called Pahakurun kierros; independent hiking writers still use those names when describing the round of Sallatunturi in Sallan kansallispuisto.
The trail is about 13.8 km on the line used here. It tours the Sallatunturi massif and Salla’s national park scenery—forests, mires, ponds, and the steep-sided Pahanojankuru gorge—where Metsähallitus has placed day huts, lean-tos, duckboards, and fireplaces along a marked UKK spine. Many printed descriptions round the full circuit with short links between trailheads to about 15 km; that is a common way to quote the same walk when parking and approach tracks are included.
From the Sallatunturi north parking areas you quickly reach the busy Salla fell resort strip: Sallan hiihtokeskus, Holiday Club Salla, and the frisbee course sit within a few hundred metres of the line, so the first kilometres feel like a resort edge before the path dives into spruce forest and duckboards toward Kaippahanoja. About 5 km from the start, Kaippahanojan laavu, Kaippahanoja tulentekopaikka, and dry toilets at Kaippahanoja käymälä form the first long break cluster on mire and forest boardwalks. In the Woods, Dear describes extensive new duckboard construction and a Kaippahanoja day hut beside this segment—worth confirming on the ground if you rely on indoor shelter.
The climb deepens toward Pahanojankuru: Pahanojankuru autiotupa, Pahakuru tulentekopaikka, and the toilets at Pahanojankuru käymälä sit at the rim of the gorge. From here you can continue on the national UKK-reitti Hautajärvi - Nuortti toward Pitkälampi and Aatsinginhauta, or follow signs toward Kylmähete. The Kylmähete cluster—Kylmähete päivätupa, Kylmähete tulentekopaikka, Kylmähete Laituri, and Kylmähete käymälä—sits on a small lake shore with views back toward the fells. Tunturilampi laavu 1, Tunturilampi laavu 2, and Tunturilampi käymälä close the lap toward the Tunturi centre side of the fell, where Kaunisharjun kierros, Kaunisharjun latu, and the Ukk-reitti Sallatunturi-Tunturikumpu-Pahanojankuru branch share junctions on the resort side of Sallatunturi.
Visit Salla publishes summer and winter route PDFs, trail feedback contacts, and links to live ski-track status; use their outdoor pages alongside Luontoon.fi for Salla-wide parking and seasonal tips. We drew colour and pacing detail from In the Woods, Dear’s on-trail account of the Pahanojankuru round—worth reading for photos and a full walk-through of the duckboards, day huts, and gorge stairs.