Finland launches parking fees at five popular hiking destinations

Parking fees have been introduced at four national parks and one protected area in Finland, Yle reports. The trial covers five popular hiking destinations and will run until spring 2027.

Visitors will pay one euro per hour, up to a maximum of five euros per day. The first 30 minutes are free, but payment can only be made through the EasyPark mobile app. Forgetting to pay may result in a parking control fee.

The fees apply, among other places, to the Korouoma protected area in Posio. Hikers there had mixed feelings about the change.

Marko Puttonen, a visitor from Espoo, said he understood that funding was needed to develop hiking routes, but found it disappointing that visitors now had to pay to park in a protected area. He did not consider the maximum daily fee excessive.

Juhamatti Konttaniemi from Ylitornio was more positive about the charge.

“It is not a bad fee, at least in my opinion, especially when you know that it goes specifically towards improving and maintaining the destinations and reopening old routes,” he said.

Some foreign visitors at Korouoma were more hesitant because the EasyPark app is available only in Finnish.

Parking fees have also been introduced at Sipoonkorpi National Park in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Koli National Park in North Karelia, and Riisitunturi and Urho Kekkonen national parks in Lapland.

The Finnish state-owned organisation Metsähallitus will use the revenue to maintain hiking destinations. The money may be used, for example, to renovate and reopen routes that are currently closed.

“The revenue will be directed to the maintenance and upkeep of each hiking destination. By paying the parking fee, visitors can also contribute,” said Elias Haapakorva, Metsähallitus’s director of customer relations.

Metsähallitus will collect feedback from hikers and stakeholders during the winter. Haapakorva said the organisation has no specific revenue expectations for the trial, but will monitor and assess the amount collected.

The fee was set at a lower level than in northern Norway, where a comparable daily charge is 250 Norwegian kroner, or about 23 euros. Metsähallitus said it wanted to keep parking affordable for both short and longer visits.