A beautiful little trail in Liesjärvi National Park in Tammela: the Ahonnokka Nature Trail
The heart of Liesjärvi National Park can, in a way, be found at its southern edge, where the Korteniemi Heritage Farm is located. This old forest ranger’s homestead serves as a beautiful, atmospheric starting point for hikes into the national park, radiating the spirit of times past. From one corner of the Korteniemi yard, you can set off on the short Ahonnokka Nature Trail, about one kilometre long. Compact yet rewarding, it offers a wonderful introduction to the nature of Liesjärvi National Park, featuring magnificent old-growth forest and lovely lake views.
- Trailhead on the map
- Route length: 1.1 km
- Campfire site: near the trailhead (map)
- Accessible: from the parking area to the Korteniemi yard yes, the nature trail itself no
- By car: Korteniementie 270, Tammela
- By public transport: Liesjärvi National Park can be reached by buses running along Highway 2 between Vihti and Forssa. From the stop called Kyynärä, it is about a one-hour walk to Korteniemi, but only 20 minutes to the park’s main trail network (Kyynäränharju).
Christmas is an excellent time for hiking, whether there is snow or not. It feels wonderful to escape from home into the quiet of nature to clear your head and recharge, away from any holiday bustle. At least that’s how I feel, which is why I was surprised when we arrived at an almost deserted Liesjärvi National Park on Christmas Day. I had expected to see plenty of fellow hikers, but there was only one car in the Korteniemi parking area before us, and we never saw its occupants during our entire outing.
Korteniemi Heritage Farm
It was around eleven o’clock, and we ate our sandwiches already in the car. Then a quick visit to the toilet – the parking area has a good restroom with an accessible section as well – and off we went toward the Korteniemi Heritage Farm waiting beyond the small wooded rise.
We were greeted by an utterly silent farmyard on the shore of a partly frozen lake. In summer, this place is surely lush and lively, with both people and farm animals around. Now we neither saw nor heard anyone, not even birds in the forest.
Our plan was to first walk the short Ahonnokka Nature Trail and then continue on the longer Pohjantikka Trail. I searched the Korteniemi yard for a national park map where I could calmly study the route, but I couldn’t find one. A little later, I also searched in vain for the name Pohjantikka Trail, as the signposts only showed place names, not loop names. But that was no problem: my phone had battery and a working internet connection, so I checked there how the Ahonnokka and Pohjantikka routes run and intersect.
Campfire site
One of the first signposts directed us to a small detour to a campfire site by the lake. It was indeed a beautiful spot. If we were better at picnic outings, this would have been a wonderful place to light a fire and eat.
We returned to the main trail, where four different routes ran together for a while: the yellow-marked route to Kyynäränharju and Savilahti, the blue-marked Pitkäkärki (= Pohjantikka Trail), and the green-marked Ahonnokka. We followed the green trail as it branched off from the main route and soon found ourselves in a delightful spruce forest by the shore, where moss rolled like a lush green sea across the forest floor. There was an abundance of deadwood, and behind all this splendour shimmered a bright lakeside landscape.
Old-growth forests of Ahonnokka
Along the nature trail, there were small information boards describing the local nature, introducing the diversity of species in old-growth forests, such as mosses that tolerate only dim light and would not survive in brighter forests. We also learned that it has taken 200 years for the Ahonnokka forest to develop into what it is today – before that, the area was slash-and-burn farmland cleared of trees. I felt a sense of joy on behalf of the old, protected forest and even its smallest inhabitants, and my environmental anxiety eased for a moment. If only we had many, many more places like this in Finland. We stayed strictly on the trail so that the intact moss carpet around us would remain untouched.
Lake views
Ahonnokka itself is a small headland, where the rock rises pleasantly above the lake, opening up a fine view over the water. There is a small bench where you can rest for a while, but making a fire is only allowed at the official campfire site in the Korteniemi yard.
We stood on the rocky viewpoint for a while, listening to the silence. We didn’t encounter a single other person during the entire trip, and I found myself wondering whether the owner of the only car in the parking area might have come to spend the night somewhere deeper in the park. Surely a wonderful way to spend Christmas – and clearly, there was no crowding.
Sunshine had been forecast for the day, as on many days before, but the sky stubbornly remained grey. Fortunately, the scenery was beautiful even like this, and especially within the embrace of the forest, the greyness of the weather doesn’t matter. In fact, in my opinion, grey weather is the best possible condition for wandering through a dim forest.
From the viewpoint rock, the trail continued onward and led back into the shelter of the forest. The inviting path carried on through the calm and beauty of the shoreline forest for a while longer, before returning to the main trail and following it back to the Korteniemi yard.
Perfect for family hikes
Although I don’t have children myself, I can easily imagine the Ahonnokka Nature Trail being an excellent choice for hiking with kids: there is a toilet at the parking area, a campfire site at the starting point, the total length of the loop is moderate, and the terrain is relatively easy. In addition, the trail is a wonderful slice of genuine old-growth forest, a cradle and refuge of biodiversity, full of things to marvel at and a place where you can absorb nature’s beneficial microbes and a sense of wellbeing. In fact, for exactly the same reasons, I would imagine this to be a lovely destination also for outings with many older people, when one is looking for relatively easily accessible natural beauty and tranquillity to bring freshness and wellbeing.
Read next
Spring Comes to Southern Finland: A February Day in Liesjärvi National Park
Canoeing in the Land of a Thousand Lakes: Liesjärvi National Park in Southern Finland
The Soothing Silence of the Woods – Forest Bathing in a Finnish Spruce Forest
Hike Finlandia: a hike from Finland’s southernmost tip to the Arctic sea. Part 1
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