Inari · Finland

Teno riverside, Utsjoki

Riverbank in Utsjoki, Finland’s northernmost village, where the Utsjoki river meets the Teno. The fells frame the sky, but the valley is dark.

See tonight's live score and best time to go for Teno riverside in Aurora Atlas

Utsjoki, Finland - 50185356238
“Utsjoki, Finland - 50185356238” by Ninara, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Why it works for the aurora

View
Along the Teno valley; fells rise on both banks.
Darkness
Dark sky, grade 1 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. Little artificial light; a good place for faint aurora and the Milky Way.
Aurora
Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.

Getting there

Distance
About 176 km by road from Inari (estimate), roughly 3 h 22 by car.
Coordinates
69.9093, 27.0285 · Open in OpenStreetMap

Before you go

River ice: stay on the bank. The far bank is Norway.

Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Finland before a night drive. See our winter safety note.

Spot information from exploreutsjoki.fi.