Hossa National Park
Hossa’s ridges and crystal clear waters invite you to enjoy the tranquillity of nature in the beautiful landscape of the national park. You can hike and cycle along the hiking trails of Hossa, or take in the underwater scenery along the canoeing trail. Close your eyes for a moment, listen to the silence and feel the gentle breeze on your face. In the rugged canyon landscape of Julma Ölkky and the rock paintings of the Värikallio, you can feel an ancient connection with nature.
Hossa National Park offers a wide range of trails, from accessible hiking trails to challenging mountain bike trails. Numerous clear-water ponds, lakes and rivers attract visitors to Hossa for paddling and fishing. At the end of a day’s hiking, how about relaxing in the warmth of a smoke sauna and spending the night in a Tentsile tree tents, swinging in the air?
Värikallio Rock Paintings
A total of 61 separate paintings can be distinguished on Hossa’s Värikallio, including deer and human figures, bear paws and lizard-like patterns. The most exceptional paintings depict large characters with triangular heads. No similar figures have been found in any other rock painting sites in Finland. The paint used to create these 3,500-4,500-year-old rock paintings was probably made by heating iron oxide and then adding fat, blood and perhaps birds’ eggs as a binder. These red ochre patterns have been preserved thanks to the silicon oxide film that formed on top of them. This protective, transparent film was formed by minerals dissolving on the rock’s surface.
The approximately 8 km long circular route of the Värikallion kaarros trail starts from Lihapyörre parking lot.
Hossa National Park has a total of about 90 km of trails
Hossa’s varied network of routes and trails go by stunning eskers and waterways. The mainly easy-to-follow routes are circular, with connecting paths that link them into longer hiking trails. There are four marked mountain bike trails in the National Park, with options for the whole family and Finland’s only IMBA EPIC marked mountain bike trail.
Fisherman’s paradise
Hossa’s fishing waters are managed in a systematic way. Sufficient quantities of fish species are maintained by stocking, and some of the closed waters are also stocked with rainbow trout of catchable size and trout in the Hossa River. Fly-fishing, spotting and swimming areas are easily accessible. In the depths of the wilderness, you can fish for pike, perch, whitefish, grayling and trout in the fine waterways. You can buy the necessary permits and hire a rowing boat from the Hossa Visitor Centre.
More Information: Hossa Visitor Centre, tel. +358 050 3844 692, +358 020 6396 041, Hunting and fishing permits/Hossa.