The Vätsäri Wilderness Area is a wilderness reserve

Wilderness reserves of Finland

The wilderness areas of Finland are remote areas which are not strictly nature reserves. The areas were set up in 1991 to preserve their wilderness character, the Sami culture and their natural form of livelihood. There are 12 such areas, all of which are located in northern Lapland. The reserves...

 in Inari

Inari, Finland

Inari is Finland's largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are lumber industry and nature maintenance. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture...

, Northern Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. It was established in 1991 like all the other 11 wilderness areas in Lapland. Its area is 1550 square kilometre. It is governed by the Metsähallitus

Metsähallitus

Metsähallitus , Forststyrelsen , "Administration of Forests," is a state-owned enterprise in Finland. The tasks of Metsähallitus are to manage most of the protected areas of Finland and to supply wood to the country's forest industry. Metsähallitus employs approximately 3,000 people...

. The wilderness lacks any marked trails, though it still has a few cabins to provide shelter for hikers.

The area comprises the eastern part of the Inarijärvi lake and a vast forest area between the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n border. The landscape of Vätsäri is a mosaic of pine forests (taiga

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

), mires and water bodies. The northeastern part rises as a treeless fell

Fell

“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 ridge. The wilderness continues in the Norwegian side, in Øvre Pasvik National Park

Øvre Pasvik National Park

Øvre Pasvik National Park lies in Sør-Varanger municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The park was opened in 1970 and was originally 63 km². In 2003 the park size was increased to 119 km², at the same time that the adjacent Øvre Pasvik landskapsvernområde, a national protected area, was opened...

. Together with the Russian Pasvik Zapovednik further east, they form the Pasvik-Inari Trilateral Park.