Finland - Pyha-Luosto National Park MTB Loop
"From the official route's website: https://www.bikeland.fi/en/pyh%C3%A4luosto-nationalpark-mtb-loop The Pyhä-Luosto National Park MTB Loop is a versatile 2-3 day and 135km mixed terrain route on mostly smooth single track and gravel backroads. The route traverses the line of fells of the Pyhä-Luosto National park on a roller coaster-like easy single from hut to hut and laavu to laavu, before diving into the arctic taiga and returning to the starting point on remote feeling back roads of the Pelkosenniemi area. It’s a versatile little stand-alone tour or can be added to the plan as a part of a longer all-terrain-bicycle tour in the arctic."
Ride difficulty rating
The Pyhä-Luosto National MTB Loop connects the holiday centers of the national park, local villages, and sights on mostly easy single-track and traffic-free gravel backroads. The national park’s old-growth forest on the sides of the line of fells is some of the prettiest anywhere and the wilderness shelters are numerous and of high quality. Though the Pyhä-Luosto National Park is one of the more visited ones in Finland and therefore the trail is always shared with other hikers and cyclists as well - except possibly very late in the season. This, however, is balanced out by empty, remote forest roads after the national park, which are rarely visited by anyone at all.
The route makes a great overnighter by spending the first night in the national park and then doubling the kilometers the next day on mostly smooth and fast gravel roads, and a section of asphalt on the way back to the starting point. The riding in the national park is mostly non-technical, as the single tracks are mostly gravel-covered, apart from the 6km of natural single track, which pushes the grading of the route into the mountain biking category. With some mountain biking skills, the route is doable with beefy tired gravel bike as well, at least if you don’t mind a little hike-a-bike when the single track gets too rooty and rocky. Though riding the route with a mountain bike makes the natural single-track sections faster and easier. If not technical, the roller coaster-like trails of the national park can be physically demanding.
