Today the three Sámi villages Duorbun, Jåhkågasska and Sirges let their reindeer graze in Padjelanta in the summer, using the traditional settlements of Stáloluokta, Árasluokta and Sállohávrre.

Consequently, the landscape is fairly flat and open, especially compared to the alpine Sarek National Park on its eastern border, and mainly consists of rolling hills with few peaks of the higher variety.

The exposure of strong winds and the cold winters has made it so that the only tree that can exist in any relevant numbers is the small and robust Betula pubescens subsp.

The diversity of the flora is extremely high, nonetheless: over 400 different lower plant (thallophytes) species have been cataloged in the area, which reportedly is a record in the Swedish fells (highlands).

The mammals that do exist are mostly lemmings and reindeer, as well as the predators that eat them; in this case the wolverine and the Arctic fox, respectively, both being permanently resident in the park.

The northeast forest is also home to a great variety of species and contains an abundance of common redpoll, willow warbler, Lapland longspur, bluethroat and redwing.

Padjelanta, due to its flourishing meadows and fish filled lakes has long been attractive to humans and the park has been inhabited ever since the Stone Age (one evidence of this being the many trapping pits that have been found and dated back to this period of time).

All these endpoints lie outside the borders of the park, which means that hikers must travel for at least a day before entering Padjelanta itself, but in the summer there are also regular helicopter tours between Kvikkjokk, Stáloluokta and Ritsem.

Originally, the tourist buildings within the park proper were managed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, but they have since passed into the care of the aforementioned Sámi villages, under the name Badjelánnda Laponia Turism (BLT).