From Oulu it´s difficult to head straight north on a snowmobile and get anywhere. Vexingly, the entire coastline around Oulu is completely off-limits to snowmobiles. To get to the popular northern snowmobiling grounds around Rovaniemi, snowmobilers must take a detour far to the east through Syöte in Pudasjärvi.
"There´s a lot of potential for improvement when it comes to snowmobiling in Oulu", says Ari Jylhä, president of the Oulu Snowmobile Association.
According to Jylhä, Oulu could attract snowmobile tourists from around the world if a system of direct trails was created with access points at local hotels.
"Snowmobile safaris can´t be arranged for tourists here because there´s no possibility to hop onto a snowmobile right at the hotels", Jylhä notes.