Abisko National Park: landscape and origins
Abisko is the national park the night train runs into, and the place where more people in Sweden look for the northern lights than anywhere else.
Abisko is one of Sweden's first national parks, founded on 24 May 1909. At 77 square kilometres (30 sq mi) it is small, but according to the park authority it is the most visited park in the province of Norrbotten. The railway line and the European route E10 run right through it; the Abisko Turist stop is about 800 metres from Naturum.
The park authority names September to March as the best time for the northern lights and explains the climate with figures: only 300 mm (12 in) of precipitation falls a year, so it is often sunny. The park authority does not use the term "blue hole", which the Aurora Sky Station uses in its marketing; it comes from the operator.
For the park itself the authority gives no entrance fee. You pay for the chairlift, evenings at the Aurora Sky Station and guided tours. Stricter rules apply in the park than elsewhere in Sweden: camping at three sites only, fires at four places only, and no fishing.
Sveriges nationalparker (Naturvårdsverket): Abisko National Park ↗
The park in numbers
- Founded
- 24 May 1909
- Area
- 7,700 ha, 6,807 ha of it land
- Managed by
- Länsstyrelsen Norrbotten
- Entrance fee
- none given, open all year
- Northern lights
- September to March
- Midnight sun
- from 24/25 May
- Precipitation
- 300 mm (12 in) a year
- Railway stop in the park
- Abisko Turist(station)
- Kungsleden
- starts here, 450 km (280 mi) to Hemavan
