Great hiking in Kapisillit near Nuuk
Beautiful hiking and nature experiences await in the remote village of Kapisillit at the bottom of the Nuuk fjord system.
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Kapisillit is a settlement of about 50 inhabitants, situated in an exceptionally beautiful location about 75 kilometres east of Nuuk at a fork in the bottom of the huge fjord system Nuup Kangerlua.
I first visited Kapisillit in September 2022, when the vegetation had already taken on the beautiful warm colours of autumn – from light green and yellow to deep orange and bright red. I didn’t get much sunshine during my stay, and some days there was even dense fog. But that didn’t make the experience any less unique. I love the area and would love to go back :-).
Kapisillit is the only remaining settlement in the Nuuk area, and the residents make their living from a combination of fishing, hunting, sheep farming and tourism. In the summer, the population multiplies as tourists and families from Nuuk come here to hike, sail, fish, hunt or just enjoy the silence.
There’s a good chance of seeing reindeer, Arctic fox, Arctic hare and white-tailed eagle (and I saw them all). In late summer, you can pick berries – the light blue bog bilberry, black crowberry and lingonberry. There are also edible mushrooms such as birch boletes (read more about picking berries and mushrooms in Nature Guide Greenland).
Kapisillit is a great starting point for fantastic hiking experiences. In the following, I describe some of the hikes and routes I’ve been on.
Map of Kapisillit area with hiking trails marked:
The famous salmon river
●○○○○ Easy route along marked paths, tracks or gravel roads.
●●○○○ Moderately easy route along marked paths that may lack markings in places.
●●●○○ Moderately difficult route along paths that are only marked in places and in some stretches disappear completely.
●●●●○ Difficult route in unmarked mountain terrain where orientation can be difficult.
●●●●● Very difficult route in unmarked and desolate mountain terrain where orientation is often difficult.
Click for more info on difficulty level.
Half an hour’s walk from Kapisillit is a lively river of the same name, home to Greenland’s only spawning salmon population. Kapisillit means ‘the salmons’ in Greenlandic, but in addition to salmon, the river and the small lakes upstream also attract many Arctic char, making it a true paradise for anglers. The peak fishing season is July to August.
To reach the Kapisillit River from the harbour, follow the road east away from the settlement. Once you have passed the last houses, continue eastwards along trodden paths close to the fjord. There are several paths that run parallel to each other. The hike is 3 km each way and is easy to walk, although there may be boggy stretches.
The Kapisillit salmon is genetically unique and lives in isolation from the North American and European salmon that migrate to Greenlandic waters in the summer. The lake system above the Kapisillit River is probably the reason why the salmon thrive in the river. This is because the relatively long residence time of the meltwater in the series of small lakes gives it a high enough temperature for the salmon to be able to spawn. In other Greenlandic rivers, the water is simply too cold (source: Nature Guide Greenland).
Toppen af Pingu
●○○○○ Easy route along marked paths, tracks or gravel roads.
●●○○○ Moderately easy route along marked paths that may lack markings in places.
●●●○○ Moderately difficult route along paths that are only marked in places and in some stretches disappear completely.
●●●●○ Difficult route in unmarked mountain terrain where orientation can be difficult.
●●●●● Very difficult route in unmarked and desolate mountain terrain where orientation is often difficult.
Click for more info on difficulty level.
Vil man gerne have en flot udsigt over området omkring Kapisillit kan man vandre til toppen af bygdens ca. 490 meter høje vartegn, Pingu, der som et afrundet lille bjerg hæver sig op lige bag bygden.
Pingu kan “bestiges” fra flere sider, men det gøres lettest fra sydsiden, dvs. på den modsatte side af fjeldet i forhold til Kapisillit. Man følger trådte stier rundt om fjeldet – enten med eller mod urets retning, som angivet på kortet. Stierne er ikke altid så tydelige, men se efter gule markeringer.
Nordøst for søen Pingup Tasia begynder man opstigningen, idet man går på højderygge og så vidt muligt følger de gule mærker og varder op ad fjeldsiden. Brug eventuelt hænderne til hjælp ved svære passager, men decideret klatring er ikke nødvendigt.
Pingu’s top er relativ flad og afrundet. Ruten går ikke helt til selve toppen, men højre om og slutter ved en stor varde i den nordvestlige ende af “plateauet”. Her vil du blive belønnet med en fantastisk udsigt hele vejen rundt over Kapisillit Fjord og det øvrige Nuuk-fjordsystem med Kinaasaq og andre høje fjeldtinder i syne. Mod øst kan man se Kangersuneq Isfjord og det høje fjeld Niiggu, samt de mange søer i baglandet mod syd.
Kangersuneq Icefjord
●○○○○ Easy route along marked paths, tracks or gravel roads.
●●○○○ Moderately easy route along marked paths that may lack markings in places.
●●●○○ Moderately difficult route along paths that are only marked in places and in some stretches disappear completely.
●●●●○ Difficult route in unmarked mountain terrain where orientation can be difficult.
●●●●● Very difficult route in unmarked and desolate mountain terrain where orientation is often difficult.
Click for more info on difficulty level.
The Kangersuneq Icefjord is an impressive sight, filled with icebergs and ice floes from several active glaciers. From Kapisillit you can hike to a special viewpoint where you get a first-class overview of the icefjord with the endless ice cap on the distant horizon.
The hike is approx. 16 km (round trip). You start by walking to the Kapisillit River as described above. To cross the river, you usually have to wade across with water to about knee height. This is most easily done between the two small lakes (lake 1 and lake 2 on the map), but can also be done near the mouth of the river in the fjord. Bring a pair of sandals (crocs or similar) and hiking poles for the crossing. There are plans to build a wooden bridge over the river.
From the river, follow trodden paths marked with cairns/markers in places and follow a route roughly as indicated on the map. The terrain is fairly flat as you cross over the vast Innannguup Saava plain, which is the land area between Kangersuneq Icefjord and the bottom of Kapisillit Fjord. Keep an eye out for reindeer and Arctic hares. You may also come across sheep coming from the sheep farms on the other side of the fjord.
Along the way, on your right is the over 950 metre high Niiggu mountain, which blocks the view of the icefjord and the Greenland ice sheet, but is an impressive sight in its own right. On the other side you can enjoy the view of the Kapisillit Fjord with its small islands, and behind it you can see the buildings of the various sheep farms. Every now and then a boat can be seen sailing around, but otherwise everything is quiet.
The hike peaks when you arrive at the headland of Isussu and get a fantastic view of the Kangersuneq Icefjord. The headland extends like a rocky outcrop into the icefjord and you can walk on the ridge of the headland at a height of about 50 metres above the fjord.
Hike to the former viking settlement of Sandnes (Kilaarsarfik)
●○○○○ Easy route along marked paths, tracks or gravel roads.
●●○○○ Moderately easy route along marked paths that may lack markings in places.
●●●○○ Moderately difficult route along paths that are only marked in places and in some stretches disappear completely.
●●●●○ Difficult route in unmarked mountain terrain where orientation can be difficult.
●●●●● Very difficult route in unmarked and desolate mountain terrain where orientation is often difficult.
Click for more info on difficulty level.
A truly wonderful long-distance hike of roughly 25 km goes from Kapisillit to the historic Norsemen settlement of Sandnes (Kilaarsarfik). The route is marked with cairns on trodden paths and runs southwards through long valleys and past beautiful lakes. You need to bring all your own equipment for the hike – tent, sleeping bag, cooking utensils, etc. while fresh drinking water can be obtained from streams and lakes.
It is possible to hike all the way to Sandnes in one day, but I would recommend staying overnight along the way, for example on the shores of the large Qajartoriarsuaq Lake. Then there’s no stress and you have time to experience nature. On the second day, you can reach Sandnes and then head back towards Kapisillit, possibly with one more night before returning to Kapisillit on the third day.
It is also possible to organise a boat trip to Sandnes and walk from there to Kapisillit. See for example kangtourism.com.
In Sandnes you can see the remains of the largest Norse farmstead in the Western Settlement (‘Vesterbygden’) of medieval Greenland, including a stone foundation of a small church. Excavations have shown that the Norse had cattle, sheep and goats here thanks to the valley’s lush meadows. The Norse arrived from Iceland to this part of Greenland around the year 1000, and disappeared again in the mid-14th century. Read more about the life and hardships of the Norsemen in Nature Guide Greenland.
How to get to Kapisillit
From Nuuk Disko Line sails to Kapisillit 3-4 times a week. The trip takes approx. 2 hours. Several tourist operators also arrange boat trips to the village and the Kangersuneq Icefjord nearby.
Accommodation in Kapisillit is available in private huts or holiday homes, or you can pitch your own tent in the terrain east of the village. See more at visitnuuk.com.
Close to the harbour is a grocery store, Pilersuisoq, which has a reasonable selection of necessities. Open Mon-Fri 10am-3pm and Sat 10am-12pm.
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