Nature Sites

In mid 2000s Parikkala had a development project ”Liiku Lintuinmaan luonnossa”. It was about repairing and constructing hiking routes. There are about a hundred kilometres of trails altogether. They are divided in three distinctive parts, each separately introduced. The first part is the 30km stage, Pöröpeikon polku – Parikkala.

Close to Joensuu centre, two short round-trip trails run in the terrain of an old Orthodox monastery and a forested island, on the waterfront of open Pyhäselkä. The trails are quite easy, apart from the Pyhäselkä shoreline, where there’s rocky.

The trail starts from Imatra Spa in the south, makes a detour to Ruokolahti sports centre and ends at Simpele, the centre of Rautjärvi municipality. There are often many route…

The Herajärvi Trail is a round-trip trail, starting from the peak of Ukko-Koli. The trail runs partly in the Koli National Park. The trail goes around lake Herajärvi, on the south side of Koli. Marked in blue, the trail is a demanding one because of great differences in height.

A service station in Uuro, Kontiolahti, in the crossing of roads 6 and 73, is the starting point to the Kolinpolku Trail. The route passes via the Kolvananuuro Nature Reserve to Kiviniemi and joins the Herajärven kierros Trail to Koli. En route, there are about 15 resting spots, maintained by municipality of Kontiolahti.

Salpapolku is a hiking trail, starting in the south from Majaniemi in Virolahti, and ending in wilderness forests of Takamaa in Miehikkälä, south side of lake Syvä-Valkjärvi. The route is marked in blue, with “Salpapolku” signs, and an otter emblem.

There’s a vast network of hiking trails around the Joutseno population centre. Many trails run in the vicinity of Myllymäki ski centre. One trail runs via Hinkanranta, following the shoreline of Saimaa to the Imatra Spa. Another branch takes you via Kähärilä village to Soskua floodgate, the Saimaa Canal.

Kaltimon kierto is a 25km round-trip trail in Eno, north of road 73 (Road:Uimaharjuntie). Via Kolvananuuro, the route is connected to Koli trail, and via Suppuralampi, the Patvinpolku Trail goes all the way to the Patvinsuo National Park via Uimaharju and Kivilahti.

Kitee Wilderness Trail runs near lake Orivesi, forming two round-trip trails. The trail introduces you to forest nature, forestry, game management, and hunting traditions.

The south end of the route is at Mikkolanniemi Activity Centre, east shore of lake Rautjärvi, and it ends at Papinniemi Camping Area, by Pyhäjärvi, in Uukuniemi church village.
From Mikkolanniemi, the hiking route continues as “Mikkiksen tarinapolku” trail. First, there’s a Lapp hut, and at the other end of the trail at Virtsalampi pond, there’s a lean-to close to the road, where the actual route runs.

The Kalliojärvi round-trip trail in Pyhäselkä goes around Suuri Kalliojärvi, on the bottom of a ravine. The route has forest trails, duckboards, uphill ad downhill and steep cliffs without safety rails. You need to be careful with children also in the campfire site, where the shoreline quickly drops to the lake.