This is a database of facilities of various kinds in the fjelds, which in practice usually means cottages and stations operated by the Swedish Tourist Association. There are, however, other kinds of places that merit inclusion here, such as the cottages in Padjelanta National Park and the many shelters along the marked trails. Primarily the database consists of places I myself have visited (and photographed), with first-hand information, but for completeness I have also included other facilities readily reachable from the "known" ones, in which case the information comes from public sources. Note, however, that this is still not a full collection of sites one might expect to find here, since there are regions I have yet to visit. Should you spot any mistakes or erroneous data, or want to add something, please contact me!

Class

The type of the facility in question. Places belonging to the same type share certain basic characteristics, which are often not written out in the individual entries, but exceptions are noted. The classes used are:

STF fjeld station

Typically larger structures with a high level of service. All fjeld stations sell provisions to some extent and all have at least one sauna; most also have a restaurant. It is a good idea to bring linen or sleeping bags, but sheets can usually be rented if required. They are typically staffed from the end of February to early May in winter, and from the end of June to the middle of September in summer. Those that are situated "in the middle of nowhere" also include an open compartment with an assistance phone during the off-season months, for visitors travelling at unusual times or people in distress.

STF cottage site

Cottages without electricity or modern comforts, usually situated far from the nearest road. Visitors fetch their own water and cut their own firewood, but there are gas-powered stoves. Linen or sleeping bags must be brought. Nearly all cottage sites are manned by one or more wardens in both summer and winter; the opening periods are about the same as for the fjeld stations, but they are typically shorter for cottages off the larger trails (refer to the STF website link in the entries for details). At other times the cottages are closed, but there is an open compartment in most of them, usually containing an assistance phone – should any of these be missing it is noted. Many sites have extra service of some kind when manned (see below).

BLT cottage site

The cottages in Padjelanta are nowadays run by Badjelánnda Laponia Turism, which is an association formed by the three Sámi villages that are active in the area. The standard and operation are akin to those of the STF cottage sites, but the BLT ones are heated with gas rather than firewood, and in winter they are only staffed around Easter. At all sites there is one cottage which is open around the year, and most have an assistance phone. The Sámi at or near some of the sites sell fish, bread and dried reindeer meat when available.

County administration cabin

The county administrations maintain cabins and huts in various places, the main purpose of which is to serve as accommodation for their monitoring personnel as well as reindeer herders, but they are also open to the public provided that there is room. The overnight fee, which is significantly lower compared to those of the above, is paid afterwards using bank forms available in the cabins.

DNT staffed lodge

This is the rough Norwegian equivalent of the Swedish fjeld stations, operated by the Norwegian Trekking Association. The main difference is that during the manned periods – which are more or less the same as those of the Padjelanta cottages – visitors have no choice but to make use of the full service of the facility, which typically means served breakfast and three-course dinner. During the rest of the year there is usually a smaller accommodation building available, which is locked with the standard DNT key that members of both STF and DNT can acquire.

Shelter

Along many of the larger trails – especially in Jämtland – there are small buildings meant to offer temporary shelter to tired travellers. There is often a heater and a scant supply of firewood in case of emergency, but people are explicitly forbidden to make use of this at other times, and discouraged to spend the night unless in dire need – simply because doing so might very well drastically reduce the chances of survival when it actually is a matter of life and death.

Hut

At a good many places in the fjelds there are old huts of traditional Sámi make, and even though the majority of these are now deteriorated, some have been the subject of restoration projects and now offer shelter or even residence to anyone who finds them. Be sure to bring camping gear.

Private

Apart from the general types of places above, there are also a number of private facilities here and there – some offering accommodation or other services, some not.

 

Region/location

Since the Swedish fjelds constitute a very large area, entries have been further classified according to geographical position. The region field marks the general part of the country, and the location field defines a specific area within that region. The labels employed therein are completely arbitrary on my part and subject to change. Your mileage may vary.
 

Coordinates

The coordinates to the place in question, given in WGS-84 (latitude/longitude) format with second precision. Positioning data have been extracted directly from the applicable maps where available (accuracy limited by map precision), or from satellite photos when not (accuracy limited by satellite mapping precision).
 

Service

Quite a few facilities offer some kind of service beside simple accommodation, such as provisions or a sauna. Regarding the former the range of products varies greatly from place to place, and in the entries where I know the state of affairs I have introduced a ternary notation:
¹) Limited range of basic products. Usually just a cupboard.
²) Extended range, including different product lines and more "non-essential" things, but the selection is still limited. Usually a small room.
³) Large range, with a wider selection and sometimes even items of clothing. Walk-in shop.
 

Distances

Approximate distances to other facilities and in some cases townships or other natural roadside starting points, which are underlined. Included are stations, cottages etc. reachable by the marked summer trails (and in a few cases by unmarked but frequently utilized routes), as well as any shelters and the like along the way. If another major facility can be reached via an intermediate trail branch it has also been included, as long as taking that route is shorter than it would be to pass some other major facility. This system has been followed as consistently as possible, but total adherence is not guaranteed. Shelters and similar places have been separated from the other facilities in the list – those I have not visited are also included, but have no entry link. Distance figures have been taken straight from overview maps in most cases, even though some which are obviously faulty have been altered, and the rest have been calculated from detailed maps. The accuracy may not be top-notch, so these numbers are only meant as a general guide and should not be trusted in full without question. The distances given are the shortest ones available if one follows the marked summer trails only, which means that in winter – or if one finds one's own way, or utilizes other paths – other figures apply.

Use this form to search the database. The text fields perform a case-insensitive phrase match, so multiple keywords do not work. Note that Sámi characters are not supported as such – except for á – so if you need the rest, use the corresponding character entities instead. Leaving a field or list empty – or cleared – will remove it as a search criterion, which as far as the lists are concerned is equal to selecting all options. In other words, just click the List entries button to display all facilities in the database. If you're unfamiliar with multi-select lists, Ctrl+click allows you to choose more than one option – as well as to deselect an already selected option.