Guest BF spent 5 days/4 nights on our Canoeing on the Tar Route in Kainuu tour in the east of Finland in August 2025 with his two sons, using one canoe and one single kayak as three persons, and kindly sent us this report and pictures from his trip. Our thanks to BF for taking the time to tell us about his adventure – and our congratulations on some very successful fishing!
I spent my childhood paddling on rivers in northern Russia, and finally decided it was time to show my older kids (18 and 16) what real northern beauty looks like – lakes, mosquitoes, and proper wilderness camping.
We arrived in Kajaani on Friday afternoon, taking a 6.5-hour train from Helsinki. Not exactly the most exciting way to spend half a day, but it was the only option if we wanted to hit the trail on Sunday — we had to spend Shabbat in Kajaani. Shabbat had its own little adventure (I, for some reason, decided to climb over a fence and tore up my finger and palm badly enough to need stitches), but come 9:00 sharp, we loaded our gear into our local host Hannu’s car and headed for Kuhmo.
In Kuhmo, we picked up the gear we’d ordered – two canoes, a kayak, tents, sleeping bags, a fishing rod – everything was ready and sorted in no time. Hannu speaks great English and gave us a bunch of useful tips for the route ahead.
By noon we were already at the pier on Lake Lentiira. We packed everything in under an hour.
The older kid took the kayak, and we pushed off at 13:00. The wind was pleasantly behind us, and with a few long breaks, we reached the first shelter on the route – Rytäniemi – in about 4.5 hours.
We made a stop at the outlet of Lentiirajoki and saw bear tracks there.
We hadn’t planned on stopping along the river though, so we paddled on to Rytäniemi. The shelter was in good shape, there was plenty of firewood — but we made a mistake and didn’t set up the tent, choosing instead to roll out our sleeping bags right under the shelter roof.
There weren’t many mosquitoes, but that didn’t stop the few that were there from teaching us a painful lesson.
So we woke up groggy, grumpy, and unrested. To top it off, the wind had shifted – no more nice tailwind, now it was a nasty cross-headwind. The next two short legs to Ränkänsaari wore us out completely.
When we finally saw the hut there, our plan to “take a short break and eat” turned into “stay the night and make up ground tomorrow.”
The area around the island was full of fish – we caught around ten pike, and had one for dinner.
The hut was cosy, with plenty of firewood (didn’t even need to chop any), and the sunset over the lake was absolutely stunning.
But debt must be paid, so we got up at 6:00, and by 8:20 we were back on the water. The weather was on our side, and we paddled at a relaxed pace to the next rapid, where we planned to have lunch. We reached it around 1pm.
Lunch and the warm weather knocked the energy out of us, so we didn’t hit the water again until 15:30. Less than an hour later we reached the first cart rail portage. We spent a good hour trying to figure out how the system worked, only to realise you didn’t need the cable at all.
Oh well, any experience is worth the time. Back on the water by a little after 18:00, we set our sights on the cabin at Lehtosaari.
At the dock on Lake Kokkonen, we caught a big pike — but gifted it to two curious otters that showed up just as we were leaving. Bon appétit, fellas!
We had a leg and a half to go, and the last 15 minutes were into a brutal crosswind. But we made it. Our cabin neighbour had already heated up the sauna — we were too tired to join, but we definitely could have. Fun fact: the hut has two rooms, so even though he left early in the morning, his presence didn’t bother our sleep one bit.
Next morning started off calm and windless, and in our naive optimism we only set off around 11:30, planning to have lunch at the Lentuankoski rapid.
But karma came fast. Halfway through the second leg, a vicious headwind kicked up, and we were so beat we had to take a break and eat on Pukkisaari Island.
After the break we felt better and powered through the rest of the bay, reaching the rapid half an hour later.
We knew how the rail system worked now and we just calmly hauled the boats over using the trolley – took less than 40 minutes. Experience makes all the difference.
For a second we thought about staying at the nearby campground, but there were quite a few people there, so we paddled on.
There are lots of nice campsites on the lake after the rapid, and we eventually picked a tiny island – Lokkisaaret.
It took some effort to find space for two tents, but we managed – just in time. About ten minutes after we pitched the tents, a big storm rolled in with heavy rain. The tents held up beautifully (thank you Hannu!), and we slept great.
But it was time to move on — by 10:00 we were already on the final two stretches to Kuhmo.
These last legs were uneventful — except we accidentally left behind my jacket (it was over 20 years old!) on Lokkisaaret. If you happen to find it, please take it and send it to us. Nature Travels has our address – we’d really appreciate it!
Hannu picked us up near the museum (which is absolutely worth a visit!), and by 3pm we were back in Kajaani.
Hot showers, sauna, ice cream — and we were ready to head back to Helsinki on the morning train, aiming to reach Tallinn before Shabbat.
Not only did we make it, we even got to the evening prayer by 20:00.
But that’s a story for another time.
Final thoughts:
Huge thanks to Nature Travels and Niki — for the patience and flawless organization. And of course to Hannu — for the excellent gear, punctuality, and helpful advice. We’ll happily use their services again next year!
Lessons learned:
- Start early on Day 1 and push to reach Ränkänsaari.
- Expect side winds on open lakes.
- The full route, straight-line, is around 60 km. At a comfortable 3 km/h pace, plan for at least 20 hours of pure paddling time if you want to reach Kuhmo.
- That said, there’s internet (better than in many European capitals!) almost everywhere, and you can always call Hannu to pick you up if you’re not feeling up to finishing the route.
BF