Repovesi

Repovesi National Park was established in 2003 in the municipalities of Kouvola and Mäntyharju, in south-eastern Finland, a few hours from Helsinki. At 15 km² it is one of the smallest parks in the country and yet one of the most visited, with more than a hundred thousand visitors a year.

Its history is one of conversion. The area was for decades ground for intensive commercial forestry, and the park was created largely on land contributed by the timber industry, in an unusual agreement between a private company and the administration. Since then the forest has been rewilding, dominated by pine and birch, and wildlife has reoccupied it, with brown bear, elk and an abundant forest and lake birdlife.

The relief is one of bare rock and enclosed lakes, with cliffs that draw climbers, in particular the face of Olhavanvuori. The park's most recognisable features are the Lapinsalmi suspension bridge, which spans a narrows and is the usual entrance to the main route, and the hand-hauled ferry known as the Fox's Ferry, which visitors work themselves to cross. The river Koukunjoki runs through the park, and the views from its summits over the treetops and lakes are its most widely reproduced image.