Location
The Kiiminkijoki River is situated in central Finland, with good transit routes to the area available. You can travel to the vicinity of the river by both train and air.
The Finnish State Railways (VR) operate services from, for instance, Helsinki to Oulu nearly ten times a day, and the travel time is about 7 ½ hours. The journey by train to Kajaani takes about 8 hours.
By flying with Finnair, the national air carrier of Finland, you can get to Oulu and Kajaani from Helsinki in less than an hour: there are over ten flights a day. Scandinavian Airlines flies from Stockholm directly to Oulu about three times a day.
From Oulu Airport, you'll get to the riverside in 40 minutes. The trip from Kajaani Airport lasts 1 ½ hours.
Situated within the vicinity of the Arctic Circle, the Kiiminkijoki River is 170 kilometres long. The river belongs to the international Project Aqua Conservation Programme, and it is a structurally non-developed, freely-flowing river which originates from the municipality representing the central point of continental Finland and flows onward to the Gulf of Bothnia. Its closest urban centre, Oulu, is located at the lower course of the river, 20 kilometres to the south.
The municipalities on the riverside have, in collaboration with the fishing area and the National Board of Forestry, constructed a comprehensive network of rest stops and special fishing spots along the sides of the Kiiminkijoki River.
For fishermen and canoeists, the river offers seventy areas of rapids. For canoeists, the Kiiminkijoki River is a versatile, picturesque water route to traverse. The river area's most impressive rapids are Kalliuskoski in Puolanka, Kurimokoski in Utajärvi and Koitelinkoski in Kiiminki. Finland's highest natural waterfall, Hepoköngäs, belongs to the Puolanka system of headwaters.
Think about it!
If you leave from London (Heathrow), you can find yourself at the Kiiminkijoki River luring trout in under seven hours at best! If you depart from Amsterdam, you'll be at the river in even less than six hours, sitting in a canoe and enjoying the peace of nature, a serenity upset only by the roar of the rapids!
