Hossa National Park - trail runner's paradise

Hossa in general

Hossa National Park is the Finland's 40th national park which was nominated as a national park on 2017.

For visitors it is easy to arrive to Hossa and to get familiar with its diverse nature. Almost immediately when arriving to Hossa traveller can start to enjoy the silence of Hossa's wilderness.

Hossa National Park is an excellent destination for outdoor and hiking oriented travellers: the paths and trails running along pine heaths invites you to hike, run and cycle. The crystal-clear lakes are perfect for canoeing and fishing. The (legendary) rock paintings of Julma-Ölkky and Värikallio depict stories of shamanism, dating back thousands of years.

Suitability: Excellent for families with children. Partly also suitable for the disabled: part of the trails are accessible by wheelchair and there are also fishing jetties, a lean-to shelter and rental huts that are accessible services.

Read more about Hossa

For Kainuu Trail runners

We ask all Kainuu Trail runners and others attending the event to note that we have a permission to run in a national park area where littering is strictly prohibited! If the runner leaves rubbish on his running route, the organizer has the right to give the runner a time penalty of 60 minutes or, if necessary, even disqualify the runner's performance. Our very strong recommendation and request is Metsähallitus's litter-free camping theme - in which there are no litter traces of a trail runner in nature. If, for any reason, rubbish is forced to be left along the route, then it must be left at the aid (service) stations provided by the organizer or at public rubbish bins, which are available along the route, usually in the vicinity of rest areas and various services.


The aim is to keep Finland's youngest National Park as clean as it was before the Kainuu Trail running event.

Thank you all, for taking nature and the environment into account in advance!


Photo: Kokalmus, lean-to shelter

Drinkability of natural waters in Hossa

Runners of the Kainuu Trail can also use the water provided by nature in the Hossa National Park area as drinking water (of course at their own risk). Kainuu Trail track master Jukka Liuha has been hiking in the Hossa area since 2008:
- during more than 14 years of several hiking and outdoor trips in Hossa, at least I haven't had any problems with natural drinking water, even though drinking water has been taken from lakes, ponds and rivers and streams, Liuha says. Of course, runners should note that drinking water should only be taken from a place where water is flowing, not from a swamp or closed pond, for example, where the water has been standing for a long time.


Photo: Hossa's lake view

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