Helvetinjarvi National Park

Helvetinjarvi covers a block of forest, lakes and rock north of Tampere, and its feature is Helvetinkolu, a narrow cleft in a rock face where the bedrock has split along a fault, so that a passage a couple of metres wide runs between walls twenty metres high with a stream falling through it. The name means hell's gorge, and there is a folk story attached about a giant. The wider park has spruce and pine forest, steep-sided lakes running in parallel along the same fault lines, marked trails of several lengths with fire pits and huts, and rental cabins. It is a standard weekend walking destination from Tampere.

What you actually see

• Helvetinkolu gorge - the narrow cleft between high rock walls.
• Fault-aligned lakes - long narrow water bodies running in parallel.
• Spruce and pine forest - the woodland across the park.
• Fire pits and trail huts - the standard Finnish walking infrastructure.

When to go

June to September for walking; the park is also used for skiing in winter. A day. Weekends bring crowds to the gorge. The gorge steps are slippery when wet.

Honest expectations

The gorge is the reason most people come and it gets busy, with queues on the steps at weekends. Trails are rocky and rooty and involve some scrambling. There is no shop; bring supplies. Mosquitoes are heavy in midsummer.

Nearby

Ruovesi is south; Mantta lies east.