If you don't want to go to Finland just to see bears, you can have a Finnish wellness holiday in the nearby Hossa National Park: quiet lakes, rushing waterfalls, endless forests, green carpets of blueberries. I go on paddling tours and hikes over suspension bridges and through steep gorges, see ospreys, white-tailed eagles, beavers and even more reindeer. Rarely have I felt so connected to nature and so happy.
Click on the first photo to start the photo gallery:
There are about 90 km of hiking trails in Hossa National Park, which was established in 2017.
On Komoot I have saved three easier one-day tours for you.
1. circular trail around Kokalmusken Lake 15 km
2. Julma Ölkky Canyon circular trail 10 km
3. Värikallio rock paintings (the biggest prehistoric paintings in Finland) 8 km round trip
Stone Age Graffiti
Hossa is an ancient Sámi hunting ground. The rock paintings on the Värikallio rocks are at least 3,500 years old. The oldest dwellings found in the national park are almost 10,000 years old. Waterways enabled people to travel through the Hossa area from Lake Ladoga to the Arctic Ocean and from the Gulf of Bothnia to the White Sea.
The rock paintings discovered in 1977 are located on such a waterway, which was already used in ancient times. They were painted from a boat or standing on the ice of the lake. On the surface of the rock face are 61 individual figures depicting scenes of hunting and shamanic rituals. The paintings were probably used to mark a route or describe events.
A human figure with antlers on its head or dressed as an animal often appears in the hossa paintings. These human figures could represent a witch or a shaman, as headgear with antlers was part of the witch's costume among the Arctic hunting peoples, at least in later times.
The Stone Age graffiti here is different from the other prehistoric paintings in Finland. The small, stick-shaped moose figures are actually not known anywhere else, and the human figure with triangular head, eyes and nose is unique.
Info:
General information on the supposedly happiest country in the world is available at www.visitfinland.com/. At https://www.nationalparks.fi/hossa, visitors will find everything they need to know about the 41 national parks in Finland.
Getting there:
Kuusamo is the nearest airport. Flights with a stopover in Helsinki are available with Finnair (www.finnair.com/). From there, the most flexible way is to rent a car. You can book one, for example, via the comparison portal www.billiger-mietwagen.de.
Sleeping:
The nearby Hossa National Park invites you to hike, paddle and swim. Nice cabins directly on the lake with a communal sauna are available at the Hossan Lumo campsite. From €35 per night.
Tel: +358 500 166 377 www.hossanlumo.fi/