Lauhanvuori National Park Trails

Lauhanvuori National Park is ideal for both day trips and camping. Its circle trails of different lengths introduce you to the National Park's diverse nature and main sights.  In winter, the local municipalities maintain traditional style ski tracks in the park.

Starting Points for Trails

Circle trails

Rantapolku, 2.6 km circle trail

In the snow-free season, walking time 1 hour.
An easy trail.

The nature trail introduces visitors to the geology and vegetation of Lauhanvuori hill and human activities on its slopes.

Two wooden lean-to shelters and hikers next to a campfire on a sunny day.

Starting point 
Address: Lauhanvuori summit/viewing tower, Lauhanvuorentie 656, Isojoki 
Coordinates: (WGS84) N62° 9.12240' E22° 10.45475'

Hiking structures
Lean-to shelter and well at Lauha hut. Dry toilets on Lauhanvuori summit and outside Lauha hut. Please bring your own toilet paper.

Sights
From the viewing tower at the starting point, you can enjoy a view stretching across tens of kilometres around you. 

Potatoes are still grown along the nature trail as a reminder of the olden days when valuable seed potatoes were cultivated on Lauhanvuori summit out of reach for late frosts. 

Route description
The trail is marked with signposts. The recommended walking direction is anti-clockwise. When starting from Lauhanvuori summit, you can first climb the viewing tower to admire the scenery opening up from the hill. The summit is covered by lush forest dominated by spruces. From here you start descending towards Lauha hut along a trail that is quite steep in places. The trail continues in dry heath terrain before turning around and starting to climb back up to Lauhanvuori summit.


Pirunkierros, 4.5 km circle trail

In the snow-free season. Approx. 2 hours including rest stops.
An easy trail.

Pirunkierros trail takes you to the old sandstone deposits and ancient shorelines of Lauhanvuori and introduces you to the evolution of mires.

A wide path through a heath pine forest.

Starting point 
Address: Kivijata stone field, parking area Lauhanvuorentie 603, Isojoki
Coordinates: (WGS84) N62° 07.6602' E 22° 05.7846'

Hiking structures
Leikkistenkangas lean-to shelter, well and dry toilet. Please bring your own toilet paper.

Sights
Kivijata, the greatest stone field on Lauhanvuori, right at the starting point. The trail treats you to diverse mire environments and seasonal wetlands which play a role in ground water formation.

Route description
The trail is marked with signposts. The recommended walking direction is clockwise. Pirunkierros trail starts from Kivijata stone field. It then passes through level heath terrain to Leikkistenlaakso mire area before returning to the forest. Leikkistenkangas campfire site is an ideal place to stop and rest. From the lean-to shelter the trail continues in heath forest and returns to Kivijata, where you can either walk along the edge of the stone field to the parking area or select a longer route and visit the rocky outcrops of Aumakalliot and Aumakivi boulder outside the National Park area. This route choice adds around 1 to 2 km to the length of the trail.

Terassikierros, 9 km circle trail

In the snow-free season. Approx. 4 hours including rest stops.
An easy trail.

Terassikierros trail leads visitors to the light-filled pine forests of the upper slopes of Lauhanvuori and ancient island landscapes.

A woman pumping water from a well.

Starting points
The trail has two official starting points: 
Starting point 1, address: Lauhanvuori summit/viewing tower, Lauhanvuorentie 656, Isojoki 
Coordinates: (WGS84) N62° 9.12240' E22° 10.45475' 
Starting point 2, address: Spitaalijärvi Lake, parking area Lauhanvuorentie 639, Isojoki, follow signpost to Spitaalijärvi at Lauhanvuorentie road junction
Coordinates: (WGS84) N62° 8.34545' E22° 9.36848'

Hiking structures
Spitaalijärvi campfire sites and camping area as well as accessible cooking shelter and dry toilet. Please bring your own toilet paper.

Sights
Shoreline banks and terraces, the highest shore level after the Ice Age, and the landscapes opening up from Lauhanvuori summit throw light on the hill’s ancient stages of development. The viewing tower on Lauhanvuori summit is open in the summer season. A small patch of potatoes is growing close by Lauhanvuori summit to remind visitors of the old way of cultivating potatoes high up on the slopes, out of reach for late frosts. The water in Spitaalijärvi Lake was believed to have healing powers, and in the times past, it was even imported to the emperors of Russia.

Route description
The trail is marked with signposts. The recommended walking direction is anti-clockwise. When you start from Lauhanvuori summit, you can first climb the viewing tower to admire the scenery opening up from the hill. The recommended walking direction is anti-clockwise. Lauhanvuori summit is covered by lush forest dominated by spruces. From here you start descending towards Lauha hut on a path that is quite steep in places. The trail continues through variable dry heath terrain. Spitaalijärvi Lake has a picnic site and facilities for overnight stays. You can also go for a swim, even if there is no official bathing area on the lake. From Spitaalijärvi Lake, the path gradually climbs back up to Lauhanvuori summit.

Other hiking trails

Some of the trails in the National Park connect with routes maintained by the local municipalities, crossing the park boundaries and continuing towards the junction of road 44 to Kauhajoki and Lauhanvuorentie road, and further to Lauhansarvi Nature Tourism Centre (lauha.fi, in Finnish) in the village of Sarviluoma in Isojoki.

Visitors can choose the longer Lauhanvuoren kierros trail, which is 22.3 km long and partly maintained by the municipalities. Lauhanvuorenkierros trail (visitlakeus, in Finnish).

The trails in the area can also be combined into a circle trail of over 30 km which goes around the National Park and is ideal for a hiking trip of two to three days. 

Biking trails

Geobike mountain biking trail, 35 km circle trail

In the snow-free season. Approx. 6 hours including rest stops.
Suitable for slightly more experienced mountain bikers.

The Geobike trail takes cyclists to a great selection of geological sites in Lauhanvuori. The trail follows paths, ski trails and unpaved roads in variable terrain.

A man and a woman cycling in the terrain.

Starting points
The trail has two official starting points: 
Starting point 1, address: Lauhanvuori summit/viewing tower, Lauhanvuorentie 656, Isojoki 
Coordinates: (WGS84) N62° 9.12240' E22° 10.45475' 
Starting point 2, address: Lauhansarvi Nature Tourism Centre Lauhanvuorentie 490, Isojoki 
Coordinates: (WGS84) N62° 7.4813' E22° 3.3098'

Hiking structures
Kärkikeidas day hut and dry toilet, Spitaalijärvi campfire sites, camping area, and accessible cooking shelter and dry toilets. Kaivolampi campfire site, camping area and dry toilet. Please bring your own toilet paper.

Sights
Visible elements on this mountain biking trail include unusual rock shapes caused by weathering, the sandstone deposits and shoreline formations of an ancient island, as well as ground water phenomena and mires. Of the sights on Lauhanvuori, the trail takes in the viewing tower on the summit, Spitaalijärvi Lake, Aumakivi boulder and Kivijata stone field.

Route description
There are several possible starting points, the most highly recommended ones of which are Lauhanvuori summit and Lauhansarvi Nature Tourism Centre. The trail can be divided into two smaller loops (8 or 16 km), or the two circle trails can be combined into a longer trail. The cycling direction is clockwise. The total distance in this case is 35 km.

Please note
The mountain biking trail can used during the snow-free season only. In winter, parts of the trail are used for ski tracks, and there is no winter maintenance for the rest.

Ski tracks

In winter, Lauha offers traditional style ski tracks, and you can select between loops of 3, 5 and 10 kilometres. The tracks are maintained by the municipalities of Isojoki and Kauhajoki. You can start off either from the junction of Road 44 and Lauhanvuorentie road, or from Lauhansarvi Nature Tourism Centre (lauha.fi, in Finnish). Maps of the ski tracks are posted on Lauhanvuori summit and at the tourism centres in winter. The track network is marked with metal skier signs. The hard snows of late winter also attract visitors to venture outside the maintained tracks. In these circumstances, finding the marked track may be difficult in places.