Jyrävä

The 9-metre high Jyrävä is a massive waterfall in Kuusamo. It is located in the Oulanka National Park, in the lower reaches of the River Kitkajoki. The river is surrounded by rugged rock walls, and the water squeezes through a narrow "chute" in the bedrock and into a pool below. The fall was named after its sound, for the rumbling can be heard from great distance (rumbling is "jyrinä" in Finnish). Out of all the waterfalls in Finland, Jyrävä has one of the biggest flow rates, and there is plenty of water even after the spring floods.

Jyrävä is located along one of Finland’s most famous hiking trails, Karhunkierros Trail ("Bear’s Ring"). One can start the walk from either the Juuma village or from the wilderness hotel Basecamp Oulanka’s parking area and then walk east for about three kilometres, to the south of Kitkajoki river. Walking the trail offers a great opportunity to get to know the nature in Oulanka National Park and also the other rapids in the Kitkajoki River, especially the gorgeously foaming Myllykoski and Aallokkokoski.

The trail is partly on high rocks and there are plenty of steep up and down hills, creating some challenge for a traveler. The fall is, however, definitely worth of the trouble, and once you get to the site you can rest and eat your packed lunch while listening to the roar of the fall. During the winter, the fall gets a thick ice ceiling, which does not completely melt away until usually in May – that's a nice sight, too.

In the mid-20th Century, the preservation of Jyrävä, along with other rapids in Kuusamo, in its natural state was on a razor’s edge. During that time there was a conflict about the future of Kuusamo rapids. The series of events started when power businesses became interested in the rapids in the 1950s. As a final result, however, the rapids, including Jyrävä and the nearby Kiutaköngäs, were placed under protection from all hydroelectric building activity. That happened after people realised that the promoting of nature conservation helped tourism in the area. Thanks to this, the rapids remained unharnessed, and Jyrävä now gets thousands of visitors every year.

Jyrävä has been described the queen of waterfalls in Kuusamo, which is more than suitable to describe the fall. After all, it is by far one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Finland – and not least because of the great amount of water, height, rugged surroundings and perhaps even its dramatic history!

Note: The International Scale of River Difficulty of the Jyrävä Waterfall is VI (Source: www.joet.info). The rafting of the fall is possible for teams of experts only, after close personal inspection and taking all precautions.