Finnish Eco-Agrotourism Association – ECEAT Finland

Kainuun luontoretket located next to Hossa National Park provides hiking and nature tourism services round the year. In addition to tourism services, the company offers accommodation in log cabins on the shores of Joukojärvi Lake.

Timo, your host, is not only a wilderness and nature guide but also a Metsähallitus contract entrepreneur. Also a qualified carpenter, he has applied his skills to renovating the buildings and using recycled materials.

The headquarters of Kainuun luontoretket is in Riihelä, an old log building. Its accommodation facilities serve course participants, hiking customers and occasional pre-booked visitors. Accommodation is also available in an outbuilding (2 x 2 persons), Joukojärvi log house (2 to 8 persons) and Körmelö log cabin (3 persons). In total, there are 20 beds.

There is no running water in these buildings, and cold water is available in the well. The buildings have sinks with a drain and composting toilets. Possibility of bathing in a sauna with a wood-burning stove and swimming in the lake comes with all types of accommodation.

In catering services, we strive to use local foods, even if the 80-kilometre distance to the nearest shop sets its limitations. We use our own mushrooms, berries and fish. Meals are provided for prebooked customers.

At Riihelä, visitors can buy home-made carpentry products, including canoe paddles, spatulas and firewood carriers.

SURROUNDINGS AND ACTIVITIES

Hossa National Park is right across the lake, only 500 m from Riihelä. Hossa National Park was opened in 2017 to celebrate Finland’s 100th anniversary as an independent state. It is the 40th national park in the country. The foundation of Hossa’s landscape of eskers, mires and lakes with clear waters and plenty of fish was laid by the Ice Age.

Activities and services of Kainuun luontoretket:

• basic kayaking/canoeing courses, river kayaking/canoeing courses
• guided tours, including paddling in the moonlight, fishing and a bear safari to a hideout (50 km)
• canoes, kayaks, SUPs, electric fatbikes, sliding snowshoes and other hiking equipment to rent
• our speciality: axe throwing
• more information about the tourism services.

In the local area:

• signposted nature trails and hiking trails
• Julma-Ölkky canyon lake
• Stone-age rock paintings of Värikallio.
• Hossa Visitor Centre
• information about the area’s history

Accessible services are also available in Hossa National Park: some of the trails are suitable for wheelchairs, and the area has fishing jetties, a lean-to shelter and rental huts for visitors with restricted mobility.

DIRECTIONS

Hossa National Park is located between Road 5 (E63) to Kuusamo and Road 843 from Suomussalmi to Murtovaara, in the northern parts of Suomussalmi. The distance to Kuusamo is 80 km.

• Train: Kajaani 190 km
• Bus: nearest bus stop 3 km. Selkoskyläntie 143, Virtala.
  For timetables and more detailed instructions, see here.
• Motorists/cyclists: the nearest Google maps address is Selkoskyläntie 143, Suomussalmi

OPENING TIMES AND PRICES

• Open: year round, bookings preferably 2 days in advance.
• Prices: EUR 40/person (double rooms), cabins EUR 100 to 120. Ask for details of the prices/check the company’s website.
• breakfast EUR 10, dinner EUR 19.
• Bonus for ECEAT Finland members and visitors who arrive without a motor vehicle or a flight: on request, visitors can be collected without charge from the bus stop 3 km away.

OUR ACTIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

• we support biodiversity by leaving protection zones in the forest on lakeshores and the banks of streams
• the principles of circular economy are an important consideration in the design and construction of buildings. Old log houses were used as the frames of the buildings, and the building materials were mainly recycled. Our choices are based on sustainability.
• We have our own solar power system, and from March till September we rely fully on solar energy.
• water saving: composting toilets, no running water
• batteries are always charged with solar energy.
• the raft used for fishing and transporting bikes has an electric outboard engine.

CULTURAL ACTIONS

• We inform visitors about the history of Hossa area, including prehistoric settlements, water routes, tar burning and reindeer husbandry.

FUTURE

• we are preparing folders for the cabins, for example to show visitors how they can promote sustainability and environmental welfare.
• we will preserve Hossa’s cultural heritage and tell visitors about it.
• we will burn tar pits to honour an old tradition.
• small-scale greenhouse cultivation to grow food.
• fishery management by seine fishing.
• culling of small carnivores.
• mapping accessible tourism.