Ruunaa Hiking Area

In a nutshell

• Location: Lieksa, Northern Karelia, Finland
• Type: River with big lakes and short class I-II whitewater sections.
• Hike - Paddle -ratio: 50 - 50
• Trip length: 3-6 days, 40-60km
• Water level forecast: Lieksanjoki measurement point
• How to get there:
• By car: Car is your best choice since river Lieksanjoki is best enjoyed by walking it up and the rafting it down.
• By public transport: Trains run to Lieksa but then you'll be forced to take a taxi to the actual area. If you're really fond in rafting you can at least technically paddle all the way back to Lieksa.

More information can be found here
There is also a special outdoor map available for Ruunaa (1:30 000) but many stores seem to be out of stock at the moment. This would suggest there's a new map coming this spring.

Lieksanjoki runs through the area

Ruunaa is consisted of the national hiking area which surrounds the river Lieksanjoki and a nature reserve zone near the Russian border. The hiking area is highly commercialized and it's rapids are preferred by fishers. Do not expect to be alone there. Also keep in mind that some of the installations in the area (mainly around the rapid Kattilakoski) are private property of different travel enterprises and should not be trespassed. Private property in the area should also be marked with clearly visible signs. One of the best ways to packraft Ruunaa is to arrive by car and leave it to Siikakoski parking lot. Siikakoski is the last rapid on the edge of the area so you'll be floating right back to your precious wheeled monster. There are several well-marked trails surrounding the whole river of which I prefer the route along the east bank. That way you'll get see the large swamp areas which feed water to the river and the observation tower on the Huuhkajanvaara hill.

Swamps of forgetfulness. The size of these wet deserts is unsettling, regarding the small size of the whole area.

If you're willing to visit the nature reserve zone, you'll want to start travelling towards the lake Ruunaanjärvi after Huuhkajanvaara. Selecting the route is up to you but keep in mind that Ruunaanjärvi is so big you won't probably want to do more than cross it. The nature reserve zone on the other side of the lake doesn't have any marked trails since there are no roads nor bridges there. Most of the area is also part or border frontier zone which is off-limits to anyone without a special permit. Whatever your route selection is, you may want to paddle down the Tuulijoki river on the west edge of the frontier zone. After Tuulijoki joins to Ruunaanjärvi you can either paddle around the cape Alaniemi, portage over it or paddle roughly 1,5 kilometers southeast and see if you can through the old timber floating canal (Alaniemen uittokanava on the map). 

Haapavitja and the suspension bridge going over it

After you've gotten to the Lieksanjoki for real you'll get to hit the rapids. The most notable thing about the whitewater in Ruunaa are big waves. Most of the water isn't technically too difficult but the amount of water can scare a beginner and of course flip the raft if you hit the hydraulics sideways. Most challenging places are the first waves of Haapavitja right after the suspension bridge and Neitikoski near Ruunaa Outdoor Centre. You may want to stop and disembark to the right hand side just before arriving the Neitijärvi because the lake is big and quite frustrating to paddle. You can portage all the way to Neitikoski or embark again on a fireplace near the island Neitisaari. After that the river is quite straigthforward run all the way back to Siikakoski parking lot.

Siikakoski parking lot

If you don't mind paddling tens of kilometers of flat water and large lakes you can continue the journey towards the river Pudasjoki. Pudasjoki seems to have a few kilometers of whitewater and a fireplace (in the middle of the rapid, good luck trying to disembark) and it joins to lake Pudasjärvi. From there its approximately four kilometers to the lake Pankajärvi which has Reposuo Mire Reserve at it's nearby shore. Camping in Reposuo is forbidden but there are three fireplaces you can use and technically you can paddle to any tiny island with no residence and sleep there. After leaving Reposuo you'll still have to portage a hydroelectric plant (maybe even two) and paddle for a good while until you reach Lieksa city center (and keep in mind that Lieksa is very tiny for a city).