The small (171-sq-km), scarcely visited Rago National Park is a rugged chunk of forested granite mountain and moorland, riven with deep glacial cracks and capped by great icefields. Rago, together with the large adjoining Swedish parks, Pakjelanta, Sarek and Stora Sjöfjallet, belongs to a wider protected area of 5500 sq km. Wildlife includes elk (moose) as well as wolverines in the higher areas. Along the relatively lush Storskogdalen valley, a series of foaming cascades and spectacular waterfalls tumble.
Keep an eye out in Storskogdalen for beavers that were reintroduced here in the 1960s but may have fallen extinct. Birdwatchers should keep an eye out for willow grouse in the birch woodlands, black grouse and capercaillie amid the pines.
From the main trailhead at Lakshol, it's a three-hour, 7km walk up the valley to the free Storskogvasshytta and Ragohytta huts, then a stiff climb up and over the ridge into Sweden to connect with the well-established trail system over the border.
The maps to use are Sisovatnet, at 1:50,000, or Sørfold, at 1:75,000. To reach Lakshol, turn east off the E6 at the Trengsel bridge and continue about 6km to the end of the road.
