Landscape of rugged hills 

Midnight sun over the hills of Syöte

Many Oululaiset know the Syöte area only from their winter holidays. However, there is a lot to see in other seasons for nature freaks in the ‘southernmost mountain area’ of Finland. The national park has a marked trail network totalling 120 km in length offering lots of hiking possibilities from 2 km day walks up to a week’s hike through the wilderness. There are several shelters and huts in the area for having a barbeque or staying the night. You can get information on the area and hiking trails both in the internet and in the Syöte Visitor Centre (see links below). At the visitor centre, there is also an exhibition about the nature the area has to offer. A special stretch is on informing you how local inhabitants have lived in and from the wilderness in the past. You can even look at old traps in the forest when following the roughly 4 km long “Trapper’s Trail” which starts right behind the visitor centre.   

Predators in the Syöte wilderness 

There are many fire places along the hiking tracks

In the wide forests of the area live all of big predators of Finland: Brown bear, wolf, lynx and wolverine. However, in contrast to Alaska and Canada, Finnish beasts are afraid of humans so that hikers do not have to be afraid of being attacked. You also do not need to hang your food into trees to protect it from bears. However, when staying in a cabin, it may be a good idea to hang it in a high place anyway: Some of those places have mice as secrete inhabitants. Those are usually very interested in eating your breakfast.  

It is not very likely that you will see any of those animals while hiking, but there are greater chances of spotting big predatory birds like the Golden Eagle. The Golden Eagle was originally quite common in Finland. However during the 18^th century, these “thieves” were diminished to a great degree. The eagle has been protected only since 1969. As with other predatory animals, there has been a lot of controversy between nature protectors and locals who farm reindeer or lamb. The Golden Eagle feeds on dead animals but also hunts many different kinds of birds, squirrels, hare and offspring of bigger animals. Now and then a reindeer calf can get killed by an eagle. To minimize the financial loss for reindeer farmers, the state pays those farmers a substitution fee according to the amount of eagle breeding in their herding district and the amount of the predatory bird’s offspring. The amount of Golden Eagle breeding in Finland has increased considerably after the laws of protection have been put into action and due to the work of nature protectors. However, all in all, the eagle is still a rare species in Finland and its breeding success varies from year to year. 

Harsh climate and intriguing nature 

The water of creeks in the Nationalpark is drinkable

Syöte National Park is quite new itself but aims to protect and to inform people about the Old: It was founded in the year 2000 and covers mostly old-growth mountain spruce forest, a forest type which is nowadays quite rare in Finland. Finns call such trees “kynttiläkuusi” which means, literally translated, ‘candle spruce’. The name refers to the slim form of the trees: All branches are bent downwards and some trees have more than one top. This growth form helps the tree to survive the winter. In northern mountainous regions, air moisture condenses on the tree branches on cold winter days. It forms ice layers getting thicker and thicker until reaching a weight of many kilos and transforming the trees into strange ice sculptures. If the weight gets too high at single branches or tree tops, it may even break them.  

Although the hills of Syöte seldom reach over 350 m in height above sea level, you can find quite a few Arctic-alpine plant species there – in contrast to Oulu. The reason is that we are living already so far north that a few hundred metres more above sea level makes a huge difference in climate. Just for a comparison: In the Alps of Central Europe the tree-line is at about 2000 m, here trees are not able to grow at altitudes higher than about 400 m above sea level! 

common spotted-orchid

The bedrock of the area is base-rich in several places which contribute to a higher diversity in plant species. In July and the beginning of August it is, for example, quite common to see orchids in the marshlands of Syöte area. According to the Finnish Everyman’s Right, you can also pick berries in the National Park. Now, cloudberries are ripening. The middle- end of August is the best time for blueberry-fans. Another popular time for hiking and admiring nature is the middle of September, the time of Indian Summer. The autumn coloration is especially strong in northern hilly areas like Syöte and in Lapland.   

Helpful links: 

Syöte national park: http://www.luontoon.fi/page.asp?Section=5340

Syöte Visitor Centre: http://www.luontoon.fi/page.asp?Section=5774

Map service: www.excursionmap.fi

Bus connections: http://www.matkahuolto.fi/en/

Golden Eagle cam: http://www.panoraama.com/live/maakotka/

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