Nature Sites

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.

The Jaama trail in Joensuu and Kontiolahti areas is best suitable for cycling, because it runs on roads. It starts from central Joensuu, and visits six beaches and the Höytiäinen channel and Jaamankangas before circling back to the town centre.

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.

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.

The Nature Trail winds its way in a primaeval forest, partly on lichen-covered cliffs, partly in lush mixed forest. Differences in altitude are significant. The route visits a pond and then goes up a cliff. There’s a lean-to on the Kalliolampi cliff. If you need water, you need to fetch it from the pond below.

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.

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.

In Tohmajärvi, there’s a protected grove, where the Nordic Wolfsbane (Aconitum lycoctonum) grows. A round-trip trail runs through the grove and in a cultural landscape by the lake.

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.

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 round-trip trail runs in the surroundings of Kontiolahti church village and on the waterfront of lake Höytiäinen. You’ll see forest trail, duckboards, narrow roads and a stretch of the main village street.

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.