Ruskeala Marble Canyon Run

A high-density Karelia ride with marble cliffs, forest and waterfalls.

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Why this ride

A high-density Karelia ride with marble cliffs, forest and waterfalls. The road: A121. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Sortavala start

   Sortavala is a Finnish town that happens to be in Russia. It stands at the head of a long bay on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, in the Republic of Karelia, among granite ridges, pine woods and hundreds of small islands, and until 1940 it was part of Finland, known by the name Sortavala as well. The territory passed to the Soviet Union after the Winter War and the Continuation War, and most Finnish residents were evacuated. The architecture they left, including the town hall, the old seminary and several stone buildings in the National Romantic style, gives the centre a look quite unlike any Russian town.

   Ladoga is Europe's largest lake, almost a sea, and in the archipelago near Sortavala the water is clear, dark and cold, with bare rock islands and ferry boats. Boats leave from here to the island monastery of Valaam, one of the most important Orthodox sites in northern Russia. Inland, about twenty kilometres away, the marble quarry at Ruskeala has flooded into a turquoise lake, and its stone was used in Saint Petersburg's grand buildings. Karelia is also the landscape of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, which was collected from rune singers in these villages.

   The A-121 highway, which runs north from Saint Petersburg along the western side of Ladoga, is the usual route, a long road through forests and past lakes with moderate traffic and a few lorries. Surfaces vary, with some smooth stretches and some patched and rutted sections, and wildlife such as elk can appear at dusk, so watch for it. Summer is bright with endless white nights, early autumn brings colour and mushrooming families, and winter is long, snowy and icy.

   Because of the current political situation, travel to Russia is heavily restricted for many nationalities, and entry rules, insurance and border conditions change often, so check official advice before planning anything here. For practical matters, Sortavala has fuel, shops and cafes, and Khelyulya, a smaller settlement nearby, has basic services. Try kalitki, small open Karelian pies filled with potato or millet, and fish from the lake, usually smoked or served in a rich soup.

2. Ruskeala stop

   Ruskeala is a quarry that became a lake and then became a destination. For almost three centuries, workers cut white and grey marble from the hillside in northern Ladoga Karelia, and the stone went to build some of the grandest buildings in St. Petersburg, including St. Isaac's Cathedral. When the pumps stopped, the pits flooded, and the water, fed by springs and filtered through the rock, turned a startling emerald green. The cliffs, white and streaked with grey, rise sheer from the surface, and the whole scene is now a mountain park with walking paths, a small gallery of tunnels and boat trips on the water.

   The history of the place is more tangled than the landscape suggests. Karelia changed hands several times in the twentieth century. Ruskeala, whose name is Finnish, belonged to Finland between the wars, and the villages around it were Finnish-speaking until the Winter War and the Continuation War, after which they became part of the Soviet Union and the population was resettled. Old Finnish buildings, in dark wood or pale stucco, still turn up along the roads, and nearby Sortavala, on Lake Ladoga, has a handsome Finnish town center from the early twentieth century.

   The ride to Ruskeala is part of the pleasure. The road north from Sortavala runs through forest of pine and birch, with glimpses of lakes, granite outcrops and small villages with wooden houses. The surface is mostly decent, with patches of frost damage, and the bends are gentle. Traffic is light outside the summer weekends, when visitors fill the park. The best time is from June to September, when days are long and the forest is green, and the white nights in June give a soft light that lasts for hours. Autumn has a rich palette of reds and yellows.

   For practical matters, the village itself has small shops and a few guesthouses, but fuel is better found in Sortavala, about twenty-seven kilometers away, which has stations and a range of places to eat. The park charges an entrance fee, and a modest cafe serves tea and simple food. Mosquitoes are a feature in summer, so repellent is a good idea.

   Go early in the day to see the water at its brightest, and stand on the rim in the quiet. The marble shines, the lake glows and the air smells of pine.

3. Pitkyaranta finish

   Pitkäranta means long shore in Finnish, and the town still carries the name that it had when it belonged to Finland. It lies on the north-western shore of Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe, in the Republic of Karelia, and was a copper and tin mining district from the middle of the nineteenth century. The area was ceded to the Soviet Union after the Second World War, and the Finnish population left. Today it is a town of about thirteen thousand, with Soviet-era apartment blocks, old wooden houses and the weathered remains of the mines in the hills around.

   The setting is the main attraction. Ladoga's shoreline here is a maze of granite skerries, islets and narrow bays, covered with pine and spruce, and the water is cold and clear. The rocks are some of the oldest on Earth, rounded and scratched by glaciers, and the light on an evening in June, when it hardly gets dark, is beautiful. Ruskeala, a marble quarry flooded to form a turquoise lake, lies not far west and is one of the best-known sights in the region. Further along the coast is Impilahti, which has a more rural feel.

   The roads are quiet and the landscape gentle. They pass through forests of birch and conifer, over granite ridges, and past lakes and bogs, with the surface varying from smooth asphalt to patches of rough pavement. The bends are mild, and traffic is thin outside the towns. Mosquitoes and midges can be fierce from June to August, and winter brings deep snow, so spring and early autumn are best. Moose are common on the roads, particularly at dusk.

   Pitkyaranta has fuel, food and shops, and the next larger places, Salmi and Lyaskelya, are around thirty kilometres away. Local specialities include smoked fish from the lake and karelian pasties. Foreign visitors should check carefully what is currently permitted and what documentation is needed before planning a trip here. The pace of life is slow, and the lake sets the rhythm.

Where this sits

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