Husky Experiences Year-Round
With Travel Utsjoki, you can experience husky sledding with local guides and visit a local husky farm year-round! In late summer, we visit a husky farm and meet the huskies. In fall, try out the husky ride on a wagon. When there is enough snow on the ground and the rivers freeze, we start the fun sport of husky sledding on the fells! Read more below and book your sustainable experience with the huskies!
When trying husky sledding as our guest, there is no need to be an expert with dogs – anyone can participate! The experienced local musher will teach you a few basic things before we start, and then you just enjoy the ride. The dogs pull a sled in groups of 4-8 dogs, and guests can steer the sled by changing weight from one side to another and slow down by pushing down a break with one foot. Your team of dogs will be following the guiding team running in the front, so you only need to make sure you slow down if getting too close to the team in front of you.
We choose carefully the husky farms we co-operate with, and we prefer local, small and family-owned husky farms. This is because these huskies are very valuable for their owner and loved and taken care as family members. By visiting the husky farm, we help to train the huskies for their racing competitions. No need to worry that the dogs would be mistreated or suffer from running. You will notice how happy they are when they get to run! In our region, there is also lots of space to ride with the dogs, so you can enjoy the silent arctic nature during the ride with dogs.
On our husky experience, we take you to a husky farm on the Norwegian side of River Teno. In August, we visit the husky farm as part of our trip to the Varanger Fjord, and from September onwards, we visit the husky farm on a half-day trip and you get to try the husky sledding when temperature is cool enough for the dogs. During snow-free times, your local guide will be driving a wagon with wheels and the dogs are pulling, and you get to be the passenger. When there is enough snow on the ground, the winter sleds are taken out and guests can try driving the husky sled them-selves. The program is carried out as safely as possible, as first we practice using and steering the sled on flat fields, and then when guests feel comfortable, we head out to the fells if conditions are good. After the ride, we sit by open fire and enjoy some hot drinks and snacks and learn more about the huskies and racing with them.
Husky program is suitable for children as well. Children younger than 7 should sit on their parents laps as a passenger on the sled and very small children and babies are not recommended to take part on the sledding part of the program. So if you are travelling with children, you can always send us email so we can make arrangements for your family to have a fun and safe husky experience with us!
Duration: 5 hrs (half-day trip to husky farm)
What is included: Pick-up max 10 km from Utsjoki village, transportation to husky farm, hot drinks, small snacks, extra clothing if needed, 2 hour husky ride.
What to bring: Very warm boots and clothing for winter tour, clothing according to weather in fall, personal medication if needed, phone with full battery, warm wind-proof gloves. Send us email prior to tour if you need extra clothing to borrow.
Price: 260 euros/person (children under 12 yrs 190 euros)
Availability: 1.9.2024-30.4.2025 (husky farm visit available also in August)
If you really are into the husky sport and would like to experience a full-day trip with the huskies, we can also arrange a full-day husky tour on the fells. But this program is possible only on request and usually only on weekends. For safety reasons, you should participate first on the half-day husky experience on the fells, so the guide is sure you are able to drive the sled for a full day. Driving the sled for a whole day on the fells is not an easy sport and you should have some basic level of fitness to take part. If you are interested in also the full-day husky sledding tour, please send us email to request!
History of Husky Sledding
Husky sledding and the breed of huskies originates from North-East Siberia, from the Inuit culture. The ancestors of modern huskies were used for all kind of moving around: for hunting, for transporting heavy loads, and even delivering mail to places where otherwise would have been impossible to reach. Siberian huskies were perfect for pulling heavy loads for long distances, and the skill of training and using huskies enabled success for Inuit communities in Siberia and Arctic regions in Northern America (like the reindeer was an enabler of life for Sámi communities in Artic Fenno-Scandia and North-West regions of Russia).
Image: Denise Mueller
Nowadays, husky sledding is more a fun sport than a means of transportation. The Siberian Husky has been mixed with other breeds to become faster in the dog sled races, and this mixed breed is called an Alaskan Husky. Husky sledding as a racing sport and as a tourism attraction came more popular also in the Fenno-Scandian Arctic regions from 1980´s onwards, although huskies were traditionally not used in the Sámi region. Responsible husky owners always co-operate with local reindeer herders to make sure the dogs do not cause harm to the reindeer grazing on the fells.
A husky is a loyal (but sometimes a bit stubborn) friend, who takes you to beautiful experiences in the Arctic nature. Huskies are very active working dogs. Huskies are usually warm by nature and very social and intelligent. Their kind nature and gorgeous wolf-like looks is what makes the breed popular even as a family pet, but training the huskies and providing them an active life that they want to live is a lifestyle, not just a part-time hobby. Huskies need cold temperatures and lots and lots of running and pulling loads. So if you also love this dog breed but can´t provide the dog with enough exercise, maybe consider offering a home to a retired racing husky?
