Stekenjokk is the main attraction along the Wilderness Road, or Vildmarksvägen in Swedish. The road across the Stekenjokk Plataue is the paved road in Sweden located at the highest altitude with 876 meters above the sea. The road is only open for traffic during the summer and the snow walls along the road are usually high at the time of the opening.
However, remember that there are sometimes restrictions on leaving the paved road at the time the birds hatch. In other words, hiking on the plateau is not always possible. If you encounter a reindeer, drive carefully and let it pass. Do not cause queues along the road and additional stress for the animals by stopping for photos. There have been sad occasions when cars have stopped for selfies, causing huge queues and stressing reindeer until they die.
A Short History
Stekenjokk was once the site of a copper mine. Stekenjokks koppargruva was opened in 1976 by Boliden Mineral AB, but it was decommissioned already in 1989. The regional government has stopped any attempts to re-open the mine since. The road across the mountain plateau was built in 1969 to support the mine and the workers who mainly lived in Klimpfjäll and Stora Blåsjön. The road has since become part of the Wilderness Road.
Things to See and Do
Most people drive across the Stekenjokk Plateau, either with car or a camper. If you do, make sure to stop wherever it is safe to do so to enjoy the view. There are several pockets for parking along the road, make good use of them.
Are you traveling early in the season? Make sure to have a look at the massive snow walls along the road. They make for a perfect photo opportunity. No matter when you travel, there will be a great view of the amazing landscape.
How to get to Stekenjokk
- Flights: The closest airport is Vilhelmina Airport (VHM) located 156 kilometers away. It connects the area with the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (ARN) for connections around the globe.
- Car: Stekenjokk is located along the Wilderness Road between Klimpfjäll and Stora Blåsjön.
- Train: The closest train station is in Vilhelmina.
The driving distance from 5 major Swedish cities, according to Google Maps:
- Stockholm – 809 kilometers (9 h 34 min)
- Gothenburg – 1158 kilometers (14 h 22 min)
- Malmö – 1417 kilometers (15 h 50 min)
- Linköping – 1004 kilometers (11 h 32 min)
- Kiruna – 672 kilometers (8 h 30 min)
Find out more about other destinations in Sweden by visiting our page Exploring Sweden
The landscape looks beautiful! I’ve always wanted to visit Sweden, probably in the summer as I’m not sure I could deal with all that snow and those snow walls along the roads!
Summer is really the best time to visit. But I would guess that Canada has similar or more snow than most of Sweden. 🙂
The road across Stekenjokk is actually closed during the winter, these photos are from July. 🙂
This looks like a great drive. When you mention “early season” how early in the spring/summer is this–May/June? It would be cool to see the snow wall.
The road is opened in early June and it is at this time that there are walls of snow along the road. We visited in early July and by then there are just parts of the snow walls left. 🙂 Swedish Television (SVT) have a video of how it looks when they prepare the road for the summer season. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vasterbotten/plogningen-av-vildmarksvagen-i-stekenjokk-ar-paborjad
Great place! Looks worth visiting, it’s something special. I’ve been to Sweden a few times, coming from Denmark, and visited the cities in the South: Helsingborg, Malmo and Lund. I was impressed.
It really is an impressive place, I can really recommend you to get continue north one day as you enter Skåne. 🙂