Bear Kuusamo runs the oldest and northernmost bear hides in the Ruka–Kuusamo region. Real bear watching on the edge of Lapland, 1 May to 30 September.
For more than twenty years, Bear Kuusamo has guided travellers into the border forests east of Kuusamo, the oldest and northernmost bear hides in the Ruka–Kuusamo region.
In the border forests east of Kuusamo, where the boreal forest runs unbroken toward the frontier, brown bears step out of the treeline in the long northern dusk. Bear Kuusamo has guided travellers into that quiet for more than twenty years. It is the oldest bear-watching operation in the Ruka–Kuusamo region, and the northernmost in the country.
A young brown bear climbs a pine near the hides.
About four hours, from 6 to 10 pm: a guided walk to the hide and the best-lit hours of the northern evening.
The evening extended until morning, and often the richer show. The night hours tend to bring out considerably more bears, from big males to, even at midsummer, a mother with her cubs, and on summer nights the bears go swimming.
Current prices, dates and availability are on
Kuusamo sits in Finland's north-east, right against the Lapland border, among the fells and old-growth forests around Oulanka National Park. It is the natural base for a
: fly to Kuusamo, or drive over from Ruka, and you are at the hides within the hour.
The oldest and northernmost bear hides in the Ruka–Kuusamo region, on the edge of Lapland. Read our partner feature on ethical bear watching.
Seven timber hides sit at the forest edge, built to keep human sound and scent inside. Panoramic windows give watchers a clear view of the clearing, and photographers have dedicated camera openings with bean bags and video heads, so nobody shoots through glass. The main hide is wheelchair-accessible, and the toilets sit in their own separate rooms.
From the windows you may see brown bears, and in spring a wolverine slipping past, white-tailed sea eagles overhead, and the ravens whose calls tell the guides a bear is close.
Guiding and insurance are included, and the season runs 1 May to 30 September. Spring brings mothers with cubs, and at midsummer the sun does not set here at all, so you can watch and photograph bears right through the bright night.
If the forest stays empty, the Original Bear Guarantee brings you back for another evening free.