Autumn Camping in Nuuksio National Park

Autumn Camping in Nuuksio National Park

Having great outdoors experiences doesn’t mean going far away from home or to some popular post card sceneries. I believe it is about truly enjoying the everyday and local nature that gives us so much health and happiness. And when you are in the beginning phase of your solo hiking life, the cozy local woods are the best place to start adventuring!

Autumn is my favorite time of the year, and the nicest time for outdoors. In the end of October, most of the colorful autumn leaves have usually fallen to the ground in the Southern Finland, the air is crisp but not cold, and there’s still a lot of daylight for hiking. I decided to visit the southern green oasis, Nuuksio National Park, as I didn’t have much time to spend for the journey. Luckily, you don’t have to travel far to enjoy the benefits of nature and get those happy outdoor experiences! My wishes and goals for the weekend were just testing my new winter sleeping bag before my first winter hike snowshoeing in Syöte National Park, trying autumn camping for the first time in my life, and getting fresh air and charging my batteries for the coming grey and dark November days.

Hiking from Yli-Takkula to Lake Vääräjärvi

I prefer places that are not crowded, and that’s always challenging when you are in the popular easy-accessible national parks particularly in the Southern Finland. I checked the map of Nuuksio and decided to camp at Lake Vääräjärvi, which seemed to be a bit further away from the most popular hiking trails. So, I drove my car to Yli-Takkula parking area as it was the closest to the Vääräjärvi tenting area. There’s also a bus stop nearby. I didn’t spot any signs to the parking area, and Google Maps guided me to a private house. A young man working outside came over and said that sometimes people drive here mistakenly, and then he gave me directions to the right place. A couple of hundred of meters, and I saw a big red barn house. Off to the woods then!

At this point, my map reading skills were not yet great, and since there was no marked trail, I just thought of walking straight from A to B. Somehow the cliffs and streams didn’t ring any bells!

The forest is full of small unmarked trails, and it’s actually quite easy to get lost if you start following the trails instead of your GPS. Of course, walking on trails is much easier than scrambling through bushes and slippery cliffs. One small trail led also to a boggy area that I couldn’t go around. Rubber boots for hiking in the forests would be a great option, but I was happy that my Goretex hiking boots kept most of the water outside. I arrived at a gravel road and another small parking area and saw a wide trail next to a stream leading to Vääräjärvi. The distance was 3.3 km and it took just an hour and fifteen minutes to hike.

Camping at Vääräjärvi in Nuuksio

At the Vääräjärvi tenting site there’s a fireplace, a wood shelter, and a dry toilet. The place was empty and quiet, and the air was still. The cape is dense of pine trees and spruces, with beautiful views to the lake from the fireplace by the shore and from the cliffs. The quietness felt almost a bit spooky, but I enjoyed my solitude – exactly what I came here for!

If only… Five minutes later, the first fellow camper arrived and started chopping wood. Well, at least the forest wasn’t spooky anymore. I started looking for a nice spot for my tent. That was easily said than done. The ground was quite uneven with lots of roots and trees, and the only decent lake views were either right next to the fireplace or from the cliffs. I opted for the latter as I had a free-standing tent, and no storm or even mild winds were coming that night. I couldn't put any of the pegs to attach the tent to the ground, so I used some rocks and cords instead.

While I was setting up my tent, yet another hiker arrived at the fireplace. It was too early for preparing dinner, so I just crawled into my new winter sleeping bag and started reading a book. Until I noticed, I had fallen asleep. Well, charging batteries was the goal, and this was just that. Enjoying nature and no rush to do anything else.

After a two-hours nap I made some veggie chili bean stew and sat down on the cliffs watching the night sky. It was dark already, and the sky was full of bright stars. The two men had been sitting by the fireplace all this time, and they invited me to join them. I decided to make hot chocolate and enjoy the cozy fire too.

We had been chatting there about an hour, when suddenly some new folks arrived at Vääräjärvi. At 11 PM. And more people kept coming from the darkness with headlamps blinking. And so, it turned out that a group of students who were members of a scout club were also camping at Vääräjärvi that Friday, and that was a total of 23 persons more.

It’s maybe not surprising that the quiet night was not that quiet anymore as the students started pitching their tents and preparing food and drink and laughing a lot. I started practicing star photography that I hadn’t tried before. Didn’t really succeed but it was fun. Then I went back reading my book in the soft and warm sleeping bag. It was 2 AM when I checked the time once more and I could still hear some people talking. I didn’t have earplugs but fell asleep.

Morning in the forest

I woke up around 8 AM. The sky was already pink and pale blue, just before the sunrise. The lake was still and so beautiful reflecting the pink clouds. The morning fog was slowly dancing ballet on the surface of the water. I was grateful that people were still sleeping, and the forest was quiet. It was also quite a view to finally see all the tents that have been pitched in the darkness, there were so many!

I made breakfast, oatmeal and fast coffee, enjoyed slowly on the cliffs. Then it was time to pack and head back to the trail. The nice weather was turning into heavy rain in the late afternoon, and I decided to spend the rest of the day hammocking and meditating in Vaakkoi instead of continuing further hiking and camping in Nuuksio.

My equipment was perfect fit for the autumn camping weather, at temperatures near zero at night. I loved my winter sleeping bag, and the tent that had felt too cold in the Norwegian frost was just great too here in the Southern Finland. Although the trip was not as quiet as I had anticipated, I had a good time and basically got everything I had hoped for. Having great outdoors experiences doesn’t mean going far away from home or to some popular post card sceneries. I believe it is about truly enjoying the everyday and local nature that gives us so much health and happiness. And when you are in the beginning phase of your solo hiking life, the cozy local woods are the best place to start adventuring!


Finland Nuuksio National Park Camping Hiking Backpacking Outdoors Forest Autumn
– SHARING IS CARING –

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