Hossa: Finland's new national park is a playground for summer activities

As Finland celebrates 100 years since independence, a new national park is taking centre stage, says Laura Holt
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Laura Holt28 July 2017

After much fanfare about Denmark’s food and Nordic noirs in recent years, it’s Finland’s turn to take the Scandi spotlight. This year the country celebrates 100 years since Finnish independence and — fittingly for a country that created Forest Schools, where outdoor pursuits are championed from an early age — the headline centennial event this year is the opening of a new national park: Hossa.

This 27,000-acre patch of wilderness started as an age-old hunting ground for the indigenous Sámi people, who named it Hossa, meaning “a place far away”. In 1979 it became an official hiking area, and last month it was inaugurated as Finland’s 40th national park.

Midway down the country, close to the eastern border with Russia, Hossa is a maze of interconnected lakes and pristine forests which give the locals space to reconnect with nature.

Rows of pine, spruce and birch trees whisper the first signs of summer as I drive in in early June, though snow still cloaks the roadsides and ice lingers on the lakes. It gives some indication of the park in winter, when it opens up as a playground for husky-sledding, snowmobiling and ice-fishing.

Today, though, the skies are blue and cloudless, perfect for summer’s arrival of hikers, bikers and campers. Outdoor activities form the backbone of Hossa’s appeal, so I head off on a fat-biking tour with Jani Määttä, the owner of Martinselkosen Eräkeskus, a collection of family-run cabins in the Kainuu wilderness area, an hour south of Hossa.

Go biking

Fat-bikes are specially adapted mountain bikes with extra-thick tyres that can be used even in deep snow. We weave through one of Hossa’s newly waymarked trails, opting for an easy 10km route that takes us over wild lingonberry and crowberry bushes, past trees laden with lichen. Navigating the thick tyres through the narrow tracks takes some getting used to but eventually we reach a clearing, where a flock of black-throated divers bob on a lake.

Hossa is a birders’ paradise, with greater-spotted woodpeckers and golden eagles common sightings, as well as capercaillie, whose males use the forests for an elaborate courting display known as “lekking”. Prefer larger creatures? There are wolverines, moose, wolves and brown bears.

Brown bears
Alamy Stock Photo

Reindeer are also abundant, all of which are owned and rounded up twice a year by herders. Some, such as the Hossa Reindeer Park, have developed a sideline in tourism, inviting visitors to learn about farm life or have dinner. The farm’s traditional Lappish hut, illuminated by candles and lit by open fires, is a warm welcome after a day outdoors.

Many of the park’s activities gravitate towards its tangled network of lakes and rivers, which once formed trading routes between Finland and Russia. On the shores of Lake Hossanjärvi, I make my first foray into stand-up paddleboarding. After some initial shakiness it proves blissful, the surrounding pine trees mirrored in the lake’s crystalline surface. I also join Janne Autere (possibly Finland’s non-celeb equivalent of Bear Grylls) for an afternoon of exhale-inducing canoeing, gliding over Hossa’s waters while his white-coated husky waits by the shore.

Paddleboarding

I save the park’s key attraction until last, visiting Värikallio with local nature guide Saija Taivalmäki, whose company Jooga Taival specialises in wilderness walks and forest yoga. After limbering up amid the trees, we emerge at Finland’s most northerly prehistoric rock paintings, which date back some 3,500-4,500 years to the Stone Age, to cast our eyes over a reddened depiction of ancient hunting and shamanic rituals. When Värikallio was discovered in 1977, a local hermit took it upon himself to smear the paintings with tar, fearing the fuss that too much publicity would bring. Luckily they were saved, and with the centenary on the horizon and a new national park to shout about, Finland’s days of hiding its light under a bushel seem to be over.

Details

Finnair (finnair.com) flies to Helsinki from Heathrow and onto Kajaani and Kuusamo, the closest airports to Hossa. Martinselkosen Eräkeskus (martinselkosen.fi) has doubles from €70, room only. Jooga Taival (joogataival.fi) offers wilderness walks from €65. Lazydog SUP (lazydogsup.fi) has paddleboarding from €50. Janne Autere (hikesntrails.com) has canoeing and kayaking from €95. Hossa Visitor Centre has fat bike hire from €35 a day.

hossa.fi, suomifinland100.fi, visitfinland.com

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