About us

Polku Nature Tours

Our guides

Here are the wilderness guides of Polku We find a lot of joy, peace and adventures from the nature. We try to help people joining our adventures to achieve the same.

We always place strong emphasis on respecting nature in everything we do.
Avoiding unnecessary consumption and travel, as well as minimizing environmental impact, are fundamental principles for Polku.
Most importantly, however, we value our ability to influence the people who join our trips. Perhaps the experiences nature offers and deeper understanding of its diversity can inspire people to make more conscious choices in everyday life.

eräopas turku

Sampo

Wilderness guide, Turku

I am Sampo, the founder of Polku. I have spent over 20 years travelling extensively across Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian Lapland, steadily developing my own skills and continuously learning new ones.
For the past ten years, I have earned my living from adventures, outdoor experiences, and teaching wilderness skills. I have guided tourists in Lapland in activities ranging from ice climbing to snowmobiling, run nature clubs for primary school children, worked for over a decade as an instructor within the Survival Guild Finland, and trained military survival skills on courses organized by MPK.

After completing a vocational qualification in nature and environmental studies, I have further trained in areas such as wilderness first response (WFR), the Arctic Rescue Guide program at Lapland University of Applied Sciences, the Finnish National Rescue Association’s 72 Hours instructor training, and obtained certification as a rope work supervisor from Finnish Climbing Association.

In addition, Polku’s courses and expeditions are supported by a diverse group of some of Finland’s leading outdoor professionals. What unites us is a shared respect for nature and traditional skills, as well as a commitment to offering clients more than just experiences: real learning and meaningful engagement.

Arto

Wilderness guide, Turku

Arto’s core approach to wilderness guiding is enjoying nature in all its forms.
Alongside nature guiding and various outdoor excursions, Arto teaches traditional wilderness skills, outdoor safety, and survival skills, and also builds and maintains trails and other nature structures.

Arto has a vocational qualification as a Wilderness and Nature Guide

Sampsa

Wilderness guide, Adventure Educator

Sampsa is interested in all kinds of outdoor activities, especially multi-season hiking and longer wilderness trips. He dreams of a month-long trek in the wilderness areas of Lapland. Sampsa has worked as a wilderness guide in Lapland and as a hiking guide for Vantaan Latu. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in adventure education (Applied Sciences) and works for the City of Helsinki Youth Services. He also has a vocational qualification as a Wilderness and Nature Guide

Sonja

Wilderness guide, Inari

Sonja is a wilderness guide based in Inari, specializing in wilderness and hiking food, foraging and using wild ingredients, and nature knowledge. She spends a lot of time hiking in Lapland and prefers sleeping outdoors in a hammock.

Her wilderness cooking can be followed on her Instagram account.

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Kai

Ohjaaja (köysilajit), Turku

Kai works as an instructor in abseiling and rock climbing.

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Salla

Ohjaaja (köysilajit), Turku

Salla works as an assistant instructor in abseiling and rock climbing.

Arctic Survival Training Finland

Arctic Survival Training Finland, an auxiliary to Polku, trains professionals in various fields to operate in demanding cold conditions, advises on safety planning and equipping personnel.

Partners

Huttra Survival Training

Huttra Survival Training is a network of experienced Swedish instructors and wilderness guides offering both basic and advanced courses in survival skills. Huttra develops its training with a curious, experience-based approach and by applying new methods, so their practices may at times differ from traditional survival literature.
Most of Huttra’s instructors also teach with Svenska Överlevnadssällskapet. Read more on Huttra’s website (in Swedish).

Outdoor Artisans

Outdoor Artisans in Pyhä is a company specializing in Arctic adventures and known for its expertise in cold-water activities.
Packraft and SUP adventures, ice safety courses, ice floating, and fishing guiding are among Outdoor Artisans’ core areas of expertise. Good food and relaxing sauna experiences are also, of course, part of the experience.

Metsähallitus

Polku Nature Tours on Metsähallituksen matkailuyhteistyökumppani.

Values

At Polku Nature Tours, we believe that humans can find a deeper connection to nature by learning more about the surrounding ecosystem. Our path to this deeper understanding is through the sustainable use of natural materials and food. By learning about traditional ways of utilizing nature, we gain insight into how many resources each of our activities requires.

Clean, biodiverse nature belongs to no one.
We are part of it, and that is why we strive to ensure that whenever we move through forests, fells, or waterways, we leave no trace.

Polku Nature Tours and environmental responsibility

We strive to consider the environmental impact of all our activities and to minimize it as much as possible.
To support a cleaner environment, we take the following actions, for example:

The majority of our emissions come from our customers’ and employees’ travel to event locations. We encourage our customers to primarily use public transportation and carpooling. We aim to plan the locations and schedules of the programs so that they can be easily attended without a car. Polku Nature Tours’ emissions from business-related driving have averaged 320 kilos of carbon dioxide per year. We have offset this emission by investing in the Carbon Exchange. We own 12 acres of peatland, the restoration of which prevents at least 333 kg of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere per year. We strive to avoid flying at all costs.

Nature tourism is a rewarding business as it allows people to enjoy nature with minimal equipment. We aim to create experiences that can be delivered comfortably even with a limited amount of gear. That said, certain equipment can enhance the overall experience, and it is often more sensible for us as a company to provide gear rather than require each participant to purchase their own.
When acquiring outdoor equipment, we prioritize long-lasting, versatile, and durable products, and choose the less environmentally impactful option within each category. Although tax considerations often make buying new equipment more advantageous for a company, we source most of our gear second-hand.
We also encourage our customers to share and rent equipment instead of owning it individually.

If a campfire meal or outdoor meal is included in Polku’s activities, we provide vegetarian food by default. At the customer’s request, sustainably caught fish or game can also be offered.

Polku encourages its customers to minimize their environmental impact on their own trips by considering the emissions of their chosen mode of travel, taking a critical approach to purchasing new gear, minimizing wear on the terrain, and respecting surrounding nature, fellow hikers, and the value of the landscape.