Pinetree Lodge

Arrival at Pinetree Lodge starts with the dogs. The kennel holds over 150 huskies, and guests meet their sled team before heading out on the trail, or simply stop by to say hello. Sarkimukka itself counts twenty dogs for every person in the village, a fact the lodge does not let visitors forget. Set beside Lake Saarijarvi, 150 km north of the Arctic Circle, the lodge sits inside a stand of taiga forest that runs unbroken to the water. Rooms number seventeen doubles with en suite bathrooms, plain and Nordic in style. A Northern Lights apartment sleeps a family of four adults and one child, its bedrooms angled north for a chance at the aurora from bed. Three cabins and six Arctic Living Apartments add space for couples and larger groups, several with their own terrace facing the lake, kitchen, and sauna. Further out, a fishing cabin with no electricity or running water offers a plainer night, warmed by a wood fire and its own sauna. Evenings run to the lakeside sauna, heated daily, and a bar pouring local beer and cloudberry drinks. The restaurant serves reindeer and moose from Lapland's own suppliers. On the lake's small island, a wood-fired kata hosts pizza nights through summer. The lodge keeps to a short season, open daily from late June to the end of September.