Rovaniemi · Finland
Kukkolankoski rapids · Kukkola
Car park at the Kukkolankoski rapids on the Finnish side of the Tornio river; HaparandaTornio tourist information calls the northern sky here "amazing".
See tonight's live score and best time to go for Kukkolankoski rapids in Aurora Atlas
Why it works for the aurora
- View
- North up the Tornio river (border river with Sweden)..
- 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
- Near the edge of the auroral oval: aurora on most active nights, low in the northern sky on quiet ones.
Getting there
- Distance
- About 121 km by road from Rovaniemi (estimate), roughly 2 h 19 by car.
- Parking
- Free car park on Koskitie, Kukkola.
- Coordinates
- 65.9637, 24.0442 · Open in OpenStreetMap
Before you go
The rapids stay open in winter: do not go onto the ice.
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 openstreetmap.org.