Stage 9: From Helsinki to Taiga Forests, Ruunaa - Hossa

A two-hour drive through dark, mystical forests and small villages takes you to Kuhmo, where Petola Visitor Centre offers a window on the Kainuu wildnerness. Its exhibition features Finland’s large carnivores, including bears, wolves, lynx and wolverine.  There is also plenty of information on wild forest reindeer. Lentua Nature Reserve introduces the visitor to the largest unregulated lake in Kuhmo as well as rugged, wilderness-like nature. Lentua is familiar to Finns through the Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela's illustrations based on Finland's national epic, the Kalevala, and the writings of Veikko Huovinen, a popular Finnish author. Here you can enjoy a breath of fresh air by the famous Lentuankoski Rapids and the serene Lentua Lake before driving on for three hours to Hossa. This long and winding road leads you through the old spruce forests and hills of Finland’s eastern borderlands. Here you can explore the newly designated Hossa National Park on foot, by bike or  in a canoe.