Teijo National Park, Finland – mountain biking route

Route description

Mountain biking is allowed on all marked routes and the National Park offers a great setting for it. I was positively surprised by the route versatility, great scenery and well maintained settings of Teijo National Park!

You should start your trip from the Teijo Nature Centre (Matildanjärventie 84, Salo). The opening hours of Nature Center can be found here. In the proximity of the Nature Center you will find parking and camping areas. The Nature Centre also offers a map of the national park (can be found behind this link) as well as good guidance on the area. The Nature Centre is also the only place for getting drinking water along route. If your intention is a long day ride, you should definitely consider your water supply strategy.

Below is a detailed route description. The names of places can be found on the Teijo National Park’s map.

Jeturkastin Kierros

The ride begins on an easy and well-marked route. Very soon you will encounter a big rock (technical riding up and down) and then really narrow duck-boards. These add a lot to a challenge level of Jeturkasti loop. However, both of these obstacles are relatively short, so beginners can walk their bikes over them. In addition to the big rock and duck-boards, there are hardly any other difficult places on this loop, so riding will require only little technical effort.

Matildanjärventie – Vicksbäkinlahti

The section starts at the bank of Matildanjärvi Lake and first follows the narrow trail. Then the route continues on the streets and roads of Mathildedal village for one kilometer. Next, the route turns back to Matildanjärvi Lake and starts to follow it. The route is a singletrack of a medium difficulty, but some places will require to do some bike pushing. The section may not be easy for beginners because of the roots and rocks. However, most experienced mountain bikers will surely enjoy this challenge. The scenery of the route is stunning, and this is why the Tour of Matildanjärvi Lake is the most popular walking route in Teijo National Park.

Vicksbäkinlahti – Teijontie

After a short duck-board section, the route follows a forest road until Teijontie Road. Riding on this section is technically easy and kilometers will accumulate quickly. This is a suitable section for recovering before the next singletrack.

Teijontie – Endal

After Teijontie Road the forest road turns into a singletrack and later disappears completely. However, by following my GPS-track, you will easily get over this difficult section, and the singletrack will soon appear again, This section of the route is used much less in comparison to Matildanjärvi loop, thus, the trail has a big overgrowth. However, this section brings a good terrain variety to a mountain biking adventure! After about three kilometers, the less traveled trail turns into a forest road and later into a good singletrack all the way until Endal’s shelter.

Endal – Kalasuntti

After Endal, mountain bikers can enjoy a great singletrack for another kilometer. From here the path turns into a forest road almost all the way to Kalasuntti. On this section you will be able to ride plenty of easy kilometers quite fast. At the end of the section you will reach a cable ferry, which will take you to the island of Kalasuntti. Here you will find a nice resting area on the shore of the Lake Sahajärvi and a good setting for some swimming.

Kalasuntti – Nenusta

After some rest, another cable ferry will take you to the other side of the Kalasuntti island. In front of you is a nice singletrack all the way until Nenusta. The path is moderate in technicality, but some of the sections will require some bike pushing. There are plenty of rocks, roots, ascents and descents on this trail. More experienced mountain bikers will surely enjoy this terrain. The route runs through the Laviakallio (big rock), which will offer great views of the area. In the final leg of the section there are also some duck-boards and a resting place near Nenusta.

Nenusta – Punasuo

After a break in Nenusta, there is a steep climb on top of Nenustannokka. This is the highest point of the route (on top of the rock), which should not be skipped. In addition to the stunning scenery (overlooking the Hamarinjärvi Lake), Nenustannokka offers a fast and long singletrack descent. This is probably the most fun section of the whole route (about 500 meters). After the descent, the fast singletrack turns into a narrow forest road. The forest road mainly runs in the pine forest landscape and will change into a singletrack at some point again. This singletrack has some roots and duck-boards, but there are no really technical places here. Next, the trail takes you to the Punasuo (Red Swamp) area, where your ride will continue over well maintained duck-boards. These duck-boards are wide enough for riding without much of a challenge. During the ride you will definitely enjoy the magnificent scenery of the Red Swamp (Punasuo)! This section ends at a resting area of a Red Swamp (Punasuo), where you will find a table and some benches.

Punasuo – Teerisaari

The section begins at the final leg of Red Swamp (Punasuo). Here you will ride some worn duck-boards towards the opposite side of the swamp. After this the route will continue in pine forest following the side of the swamp. At some point you will end up at the parking lot of Red Swamp (Punasuo). From here you will ride a gravel road for around two kilometers. After the gravel road, the route continues first along the forest road and later on the trail towards Lake Puolakkajärvi. This is the most technical singletrack on the whole route (near Puolakkajärvi Lake). On the way there are lots of technical rocks and roots, as well as narrow duck-boards. For beginner mountain bikers it is recommended to skip this section along the parallel forest road (please see an explanation in the video, this forest road is not marked to the map). However, for the experienced mountain bikers I would recommend a visit to a resting area at Teerisaari. The singletrack towards it offers a stunning scenery and a fun terrain for riding.

Teerisaari – Teijo Nature Center

After a break at Teerisaari, the route runs through narrow duck-boards again. Here, the latest, you have to learn how to balance your bike properly. Duck-boards are, however, one of the Teijo National Park’s distinctive features, so riding them can be very fun adventure and development of own skills. Duck-boards run from Puolakkajärvi Lake towards Matildanjärvi Lake in a really beautiful landscape. In the southern part of Matildanjärvi Lake the duck-boards turn into singletrack, and the last kilometer is ridden along the cliffs in the pine forest.

In general, the route is very versatile and offers mountain bikers various challenges. The cliffs and big rocks along the route, well-maintained pine forests, lake landscapes and swamp sections covered with duck-boards will guarantee a great riding experience. Teijo National Park definitely gets a strong mountain biking recommendation, you can return here again and again and still discover something new!