White Achievement winter cycling route 46.5 km, Hossa National Park

Route instructions White Achievement winter cycling route

• Route maintenance begins as soon as snow and ice conditions allow and continues until April. Ice sections are marked in pairs with sign poles sufficiently frequently.
• The route is aimed to be maintained once a week. Check the route condition from local businesses.
• The route is ridden in both directions.
• The route is not marked in the terrain, signposts are placed at the most important intersections.
• After Kokalmus, you may encounter dog sleds on the route. When meeting a dog sled, stop, move to the edge of the track and give way. There may be several dog sleds.

Route alternatives instead of the whole route: 

• Joukojärvi - Värikallio - Joukojärvi 31.5 km 
• Joukojärvi - Julma-Ölkky - Joukojärvi 43 km
• Joukojärvi - Pistonlehdontie loop 23 km 

From Joukojärvi to Pistonlehdontie

The starting point of the route is Kainuun Luontoretket by the shore of Joukojärvi. The route follows Joukojärvi and after crossing Virtajärvi continues on land from the east side of Lounat-Valkeainen to the shore of Kokalmus. After Virtajärvi, the route goes through old-growth forest along the base of Leipätie on swamp and forest. After the Rytipuro bridge, there is a chance to see a capercaillie or at least their tracks and droppings.

Kokalmus is crossed near the tip of the peninsula and continues inland past the reindeer stable. To Iso-Valkeainen, the route mostly follows the Blue Achievement route. Iso-Valkeainen is crossed to the shore of the Hossanki rental cottage. The route continues on land over Pistonlehdontie via the old ski track base to Lihapyörte. The distance from Joukojärvi to Pistonlehdontie is 10 km.

From Pistonlehdontie to Värikallio and Julma-Ölkky

After Pistonlehdontie, the route continues in hilly terrain. From the rather steep descents, you get good speed for the climbs.

From Lihapyörte, the route proceeds along a wide wilderness route to Värikallio. On the wilderness route, there are snowshoers and walkers.

Before Värikallio from Ölkky marsh, the route branches north toward Julma-Ölkky. When descending to Somerjoki, there is a fast descent. Somerjoki is crossed via a narrow bridge. The route continues as its own route to the Ala-Ölkky campfire site. From the campfire site to Julma-Ölkky, the route shares the snowmobile track. At Julma-Ölkky, the route passes the canyon lake with rock paintings, a suspension bridge, and the devil's church up to the ice wall.

The return is along the same route back to Pistonlehdontie.

The distance from Pistonlehdontie to the ice wall of Julma-Ölkky is 10 km. Via Värikallio, the round-trip distance is 23 km.

From Pistonlehdontie back to Joukojärvi

On the way back, a good route alternative is to ride east on Pistonlehdontie 1.6 km to the Jatkon Jotos route. From Pistonlehdontie, turn south to Jatkon Jotos route. There are separate short side routes to Muikkupuro and the Ala-Valkeinen wilderness hut. From Ala-Valkeinen, after crossing Hoiluan ridge, the route continues along Hoilua beside Hoilu ridge. From the tip of Kokalmus peninsula, turn left south toward Joukojärvi. From here, the final part of the route is the same as the arrival route to Kokalmus.

Alternatively, from Pistonlehdontie, you can also ride directly to Kokalmus on the outbound route.

From Pistonlehdontie to Joukojärvi via Muikkupuro is 13 km. Directly from Pistonlehdontie over Kokalmus to Joukojärvi is 10 km.