Grand ridges, clear lakes and impressive old-growth pine forests
Petkeljärvi National Park is picturesque. An enchanting view of the National Park’s sparkling lakes opens from the tops of the park’s beautiful narrow ridges. Petkeljärvi National Park is a popular destination for one day hikes.
The park’s majestic ridges are part of a larger range of ridges, which reaches from the Lake Koitere all the way into Russia. The ridges are not high, but they are steep sided. The park’s forests have remained untouched by the forest industry and 150-year-old shield bark covered pines are the oldest trees found there. In summer the park’s silence is interrupted by the cry of the Black-throated Diver (Gavia arctica). Sometimes trails are blocked by trees, which beavers have cut down.
A particular feature of the National Park are the battle trenches from the Continuation War of the 1940s. Some of these have been restored. On the park’s nature trail visitors can learn about fen meadows and how they are preserved as a traditional landscape. Petkeljärvi National Park, like Patvinsuo National Park, is part of the North Karelian Biosphere Reserve, which was founded by UNESCO in 1992.
