Sunday afternoon refresher, at the Suurisuo swamp
![Duckboards extend as far as eye can discern from the edge (in fact, it’s not far) of the swamp.](/content/images/size/w960/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_4_2022-09-04.jpg-1.jpg)
Suurisuo is a large swamp in Janakkala, a southern neighbor of the Hämeenlinna municipality. We have visited the bog every couple of months from spring to autumn for a moment outdoors with fresh air and a beautiful swamp. You seldom see more than one or two people enjoying the outdoors, so it's a great break from the busy urban life.
For further reading, there is an informative Wikipedia page on Janakkala. Below you can also find an embedded Google Map showing the route from Turenki, the closest town.
This time, our child's schoolwork around flora identification, i.e., identifying and cataloging, brought us to the swamp. The area is rich in flora, and we were positive we could find most of the plants we were looking for. I'll spare you my collection of plant photos (maybe in a separate future article), and instead, I'll focus on the location - maybe you'll want to visit it yourself.
First, a word of caution, this is not a location where you can exercise as you enjoy nature. It's small, maybe a few kilometers of path and duckboards.
However, it is a beautiful swamp rich with life and fresh air. The swamp is more like the ones you'd expect 400km+ North of Janakkala, and it's barely an hour's distance from Helsinki, half an hour from Hämeenlinna.
![Duckboards leading to the swamp, between tall grass and dense undergrowth.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_0_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
![Thin, lively pines, maybe 3-4 meters tall, before the actual swamp begins.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_1_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
![Small pines, emerging tall swamp swamp grass. All green from bright to army green](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_3_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
The one below is one of my two favorite photos of the area, representing all the things that strike me as beautiful in swamps. I can still remember how fresh the air tasted, now more than a week later.
![A sea of tall grass bent by the gusts of wind, occasional short pines, shades of green.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_2_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
![Duckboards extending to the distance, cutting the swamp in a line. Green turns to brown shades.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_4_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
![Tall grass, wide open, shades of orange and green, just before autumn sets in.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_5_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
My other favourite picture of this area, from the other side of the swamp. Flora still grows stong in amazing colors, but there is a hint of autumn in the air. Most of the bugs and birds have mostly gone already.
![A concentration (of sorts) of pines, green swamp grass with tufts of peat.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_6_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
![A blanket of almost 1 meter (3 feet) tall ferns covers the forest floor.](https://www.aktiivi.com/content/images/2022/09/Janakkala_Suurisuo_swamp_7_2022-09-04.jpg.jpg)
Amenities
None. There is a small parking area for less than ten cars (usually holding one or two), but no toilets, no campsite, no outdoors fireplace.
Links and references
- The post was published as a tweet on Twitter
English-Finnish vocabulary relating to the post
Below you can find an amateur translation of the vocabulary, terms and names of places used in this post, to make the conversations easier while travelling.
English | Finnish | Notes and what is it? |
---|---|---|
(the Big swamp) | Suurisuo | A swamp named Suurisuo, 18km from Turenki. |
Pine | Mänty | One of the most common trees in Finland |
Fern | Saniainen | A common green plant, that is claimed to have pretty much the same since dinosaurs. |
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