Husky sledding in Lapland, what it costs

The kennel comes before the trail

A husky safari starts at the kennel. Before anything moves there is a short talk about the dogs, a look at where they live, and time to meet the team that will be clipped into the line to pull. Bearhill Husky, a kennel near Rovaniemi, runs its shortest guided ride as 2 hours 15 minutes in total, of which the sled itself covers about 5 km. Longer tours from kennels in Levi and Saariselkä cover 15 to 20 km and take up to 5 hours, kennel visit included.

On a guided passenger tour you sit in the sled while a musher drives. Bearhill Husky’s shortest tour includes a hot drink and biscuits partway through, and every tour ends with an “informative talk about huskies” back at the kennel. The guide does the physical work on a passenger ride, so dress for standing and sitting still in the cold.

Passenger ride or self-driven sled

Two different products are sold as a husky safari. On a passenger tour a guide drives and you ride in the sled, sometimes taking turns with a companion, and Bearhill Husky fits a maximum of 4 adults per sled or cart on that tour. On a self-driven tour you stand on the runners and drive your own small team behind a guide. Bearhill Husky’s self-driven Happy Trail Tour needs a driver aged 17 or over and fits a maximum of 2 adults and 2 children per sled, and 45 minutes of the 2 hour 30 minute programme is time on the runners.

Under-17s, and anyone who would rather not drive, ride as passengers. Both kinds accept children from age 4, and Bearhill Husky frames that limit around driving rather than riding, so ask it directly about a younger child.

Who it is not for

Lapland Safaris’ booking terms say that “children under 2 years are not suitable to take part on snowmobile and husky safaris,” wherever in Lapland you book. After that, age matters only for driving: the handlebar of a self-driven sled is for people aged 17 and over.

Extreme cold changes the plan more than age does. Bearhill Husky says it recommends its tours “only for ‘diehards’” below -30C, and cancels below -35C “as it does not benefit our dogs or our guests to travel then.” If your dates fall in the coldest weeks of January or February, build in a spare day so a cancelled tour has somewhere to move.

What it costs

A longer, self-driven tour costs roughly double a short passenger ride.

No listing we opened says whether a child’s price buys a place of their own or a seat shared with an adult. Ask when you book.

Whose land the trails cross

Reindeer herding is a Sámi tradition and dog sledding is not, yet the two share the same country. Several kennels run on or beside land used for reindeer herding, and a team that crosses a herding area at the wrong moment causes the herder real trouble. Operators who work with the herding cooperatives usually say so on their own pages. Who the Sámi are covers the homeland this happens in.

Four questions for the kennel

We do not rate kennels on animal welfare, and will not, since from where we sit any badge would be a guess. Ask the kennel yourself and judge the answer by how specific it is. The same approach covers the animal rides sold at Santa Claus Village.

• How many runs does each dog do in a day, and how long do they rest between them?
• Where do the dogs live in summer, when there is no snow to run on?
• What happens to a dog once it stops working?
• Below what temperature does the kennel shorten or cancel a tour?

A good answer sounds like Bearhill Husky’s cold-weather policy: a stated number and a stated line it will not cross. Lapland Safaris’ own booking terms say only that its animals “are trained as far as it is possible for the activity,” which answers none of the four. Put them to the kennel before you book, and again on the day if you like.

Which base puts you closest

Kennels run husky safaris from all four of Lapland’s main bases: Rovaniemi, Levi, Saariselkä and Ylläs. A short ride at Santa Claus Village is the easiest to add to a day that already includes Santa. If the whole trip is being built around one morning behind a dog team, our guide to what Lapland costs sets its price against everything else you might book, and what to wear covers dressing for an hour or more of sitting still in the cold.