Karhunpolku mountain bike route, Lieksa

Karhunpolku is the oldest hiking route in Lieksa, North Karelia. It is part of the extensive Karjalan Kierros trail network and runs from Patvinsuo National Park through the Ruunaa recreational area to the Kuhmo border at Teljo.

Countless water bodies, stunning ridge landscapes, beautiful mires, and rolling paths invite travelers to admire the nature of North Karelia and the wilderness atmosphere. This unique 140 km long hiking and mountain biking route offers many easy needle trails with boardwalks, rocky sections, and steep ridge climbs and descents.

The route is marked in the terrain with orange paint marks. Cyclists must follow the marked route signs to avoid damaging sensitive terrain areas.

Along the route, there are plenty of campfire sites, lean-tos, and wilderness huts. You can also find all resting places, tourism companies, and nearby routes in the Lieksa map service.

Karhunpolku connects to Susitaipale and continues from Patvinsuo to Möhkö in Ilomantsi. From there, the journey can continue to the Pogosta Circuit. Together these three routes make up a hiking network approximately 300 kilometers long.

• Free parking

Karhunpolku is a long hiking and mountain biking route. The route is marked on the terrain with orange paint marks and signposts. Mostly the route is easy or moderately difficult, but occasional rocky areas, steep ridge climbs and descents increase the difficulty level. It is advisable for those traveling this route to have previous off-road riding experience. Weather conditions also affect the difficulty level of the route when riding off-road. In rainy weather, note that the difficulty level increases as stones, roots, and boardwalks become slippery.

Karhunpolku can be divided into several day trips according to personal preferences. In the northern part of Karhunpolku, between Teljo and Ruunaa, high ridges and needle trails offer beautiful lake and ridge scenery and a lot of elevation changes. In the southern part, between Patvinsuo and Ruunaa, there is a lot of beautiful old forest, open mire scenery, and fewer steep hills compared to the Ruunaa-Teljo section.

The whole route is long, and it is advisable to allow 2-4 riding days for completion. The route can also be traveled in the opposite direction if desired.

Example of Karhunpolku divided into two riding days: 1. Patvinsuo-Ruunaa, 2. Ruunaa-Teljo

Example of Karhunpolku divided into four riding days: 1. Patvinsuo-Kitsi, 2. Kitsi-Ruunaa, 3. Ruunaa-Änäkoinen, and 4. Änäkoinen-Teljo

Patvinsuo-Kitsi (32 km)

From the Patvinsuo National Park parking area, the route immediately dives into the forest, sharing an initial section with the Suomujärvi circuit inside Patvinsuo National Park (this section can be bypassed on roads if desired). The initial part offers mostly easy trails in the national park, occasionally diverging to the stunning sandy shores of Suomujärvi. The route passes near Virtaniemi lean-to shelter. In the northeast corner of Suomujärvi, Karhunpolku splits off from the Suomujärvi circuit to the east, with alternating forest and mire depressions. After leaving the national park, the route follows about a kilometer of forest road, then continues along 700 meters of gravel road, turning left onto a gravel road and continuing about a kilometer until it turns right back onto a trail beside the road. The route crosses the road. After the Kangas-Piilo lean-to on the left, boardwalk sections and needle trails alternate in balanced proportions. The easy trail follows the winding Ukonjoki River on the right side. Technically, this section is an easy needle trail in gently rolling terrain, with riding on boardwalks adding spice. Ahokoski lean-to is on the right side along Ukonjoki River. Approaching Kitsintie, the trail-like route becomes a forest road before turning left across the road and following Kitsintie briefly. From the road, it turns right onto a gravel road where the Hukkalampi campfire site is found. From there, the trail continues to Pitkäjärvi wilderness hut through beautiful lake-dotted ridge scenery in mostly gently rolling terrain. The trail is mostly easy to ride. Some ditches require readiness to dismount. The trail passes by Kirkisensalmi lean-to and continues as an easy or very easy ridge trail. After crossing a bridge and some short boardwalks, the Pitkäjärvi wilderness hut is reached. From there, the route follows a forest road for about a kilometer, then a short easy needle trail. Continuing on the forest road for 1.5 km leads to Valkealammi campfire site, where rows of Salpa Line tank obstacle stones can be admired on the shore. The route continues along the gravel road. After crossing Kaatiinlammentie, the trail continues onto a narrow shore path bordered by tall shrubs. Kaatiinlampi campfire site lies near the shore.

Kitsi-Ruunaa (32 km)

After the trail along the shrub-bordered shore of Kaatiinlampi, the route goes a few hundred meters on Inarintie before diving right back onto a trail where forest and mire scenery alternate again. Before Särkkäjoki lean-to, the hiking route passes through several kilometers of technically challenging ridge terrain, offering challenges on rocky ridge trails and steep climbs and descents, suitable also for experienced mountain bikers (this section can also be bypassed entirely on the road). After Särkkäjoki lean-to, the route turns right and follows Särkkäjoentie on top of a ridge for about 3.5 km, bordered by conservation forest with ancient pines. From the gravel road, the route diverges left onto a narrow trail on the ridge continuing through beautiful ridge scenery on an easy trail. The trail steeply descends in the northern part of the ridge, crosses a road, and continues through gently rolling dry forest before reaching Suurijoki campfire site. The route continues about 1.3 km along a gravel road, then returns to a trail continuing as a single continuous path about 17 km to the vicinity of Ruunaa recreational center. This section up to Ruunaankoski follows an easy trail through mire and dry forest, evoking a genuine wilderness atmosphere. The mire area includes fairly long boardwalk sections. The terrain is quite flat here. Several rest stops (Rantakangas, Marinkangas, Kakkinen) offer the opportunity to enjoy snacks as well as views and nature tranquility. After the Ruunaa rapids, the needle trail continues towards Ruunaa recreational center, offering occasional technical riding challenges in root and rock sections and several rest places (Haapaniska Korpiniemi, Miikkula, Lakkapäänlahti). Approaching the Ruunaa recreational center, the trail becomes an easier needle trail. Neitikoski cooking shelter, the accessible campfire site at Neitikoski, and the Ämmäkoski campfire site are located very close to Ruunaa recreational center.

Ruunaa-Änäkäinen (41 km)

After Ruunaa recreational center, near the shore lies the Hongikkoranta campfire site. The route heads onto a shore trail that descends along the shore with occasional more rooty sections and boardwalk stretches. The journey continues on easy needle trails until the route meets a road, follows it briefly, then turns right onto a forest road. The route continues mainly as an easy trail from the forest road with occasional more technical short rocky or rooty sections and some short boardwalks. The route crosses Siikakoskentie, passes Naarajärvi campfire site, and continues briefly on the shore before crossing the road again and continuing as a trail. It crosses Ruunaantie and continues briefly along a gravel road. Note! Mountain bike signs are marked on Olkikosken road, and the steep slope must be bypassed according to the markings to prevent erosion of sensitive slope terrain. From the ridge there are magnificent views over the surrounding water bodies. On the ridge, a technically very easy two-track needle trail runs. After the trail, the route follows about 1.8 km on gravel road before returning to a trail. After crossing a small stream, Niskakoski lean-to on the shore of Niskalahti is reached. After the lean-to, the route continues uphill, followed by boardwalks. The trail rises gently, offering far-reaching views from the top. The trail descends back down, crosses a road, and continues as an easy needle trail in the dry pine forest, sometimes rising onto the ridge. There are some short boardwalks in between. If desired, one can visit Piilonen lean-to on the shore of Suuri-Piilonen. After crossing the road, the route turns left into rolling ridge terrain that is easy to ride on through gentle needle trails. From Häähnijoki lean-to, the route continues over a bridge crossing the Häähnijoki River, then continues through open landscapes on easy needle trails. The journey continues over tar ridges on easy trails through beautiful ridge scenery. Traversing ridges includes occasional short rockier sections. The Jynkänlampi lean-to, located on the shore of Jynkänlampi, offers a good resting place. After the lean-to, the route climbs steeply to Jynkänsärki (this part can be bypassed). After crossing a gravel road, the route climbs steeply again up to a ridge where rocky sections pace the progress (this can be bypassed). Arriving at Änäkoinen, one can again admire the rows of Salpa Line tank obstacle stones.

Änäkoinen-Teljo (about 35 km)

After exploring war history sites, the journey continues along a gravel road past several campfire sites and lean-tos (Änäkoinen, Syväjärvi, Saarijärvi) towards a fine easy dry pine forest trail between water bodies. The route crosses a bridge and continues through rolling terrain. This section has a few spots where rocks add extra challenge, plus some steep hills. After crossing a junction, the route turns right onto a two-track needle trail which is technically easy all the way to Laklaniemi lean-to. From the lean-to, the route crosses a bridge and continues along a trail for about a kilometer on a gravel road. From the gravel road, the route continues directly onto a trail offering almost straight trail lines through a wonderful mire protection area. The trail is technically easy, but fallen trees across the trail present additional challenges. The route continues along the Jongunjoki River, following its shores. Here fallen trees, stream and ditch crossings, and some boardwalks increase route difficulty (this section can be bypassed via roads if desired). The route follows the river mainly through spruce forest towards Valamajoki wilderness hut. From Valamajoki wilderness hut, the journey continues on an easy needle trail to a road. The route briefly follows the road, then turns left after crossing a bridge over the river, continuing as an easy trail. About half a kilometer after the road crossing begins a section of about half a kilometer with multiple ditch crossings which may be wet part of the year and some may require dismounting. The route continues mostly on easy trails through dry pine forest. After Aittokoski kota shelter, the journey continues along the hiking route through a boardwalk section through mire scenery (or alternatively along gravel roads to Otroskoski hut). The hiking route through the mires leads to a forest road, from which it turns left onto a trail offering occasional technical challenges mostly in spruce and pine forest. The trail passes rocky and rooty challenging sections via Viharinkoski lean-to to Otroskoski wilderness hut, where the biking detour route and hiking route meet again. After Otroskoski wilderness hut, the trail becomes technically easier needle trail running through pine forest, then meets a forest road and finally turns left onto the paved Lieksantie (Lieksa road) to the left. At the route end point in Teljo, the parking area and campfire place are located on the right side of the road by the bridge over the river.