Why this ride
A 266 km round trip from Petäjävesi - roughly 5 h 22 in the saddle. It goes by way of Aalto Campus, Experimental House, PUOLAKKA Oravivuori and Säynätsalo Town Hall.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Petäjävesi Old Church and Säynätsalo Town Hall
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 266 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 22
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Petäjävesi Old Church
The lakeland of Central Finland is a place of low wooded ridges, narrow lakes and small farms, and Petäjävesi, a village of three and a half thousand people, lies on the shore of Lake Päijänne's northern arm, about twenty-five kilometres from Keuruu. Its old church, built entirely of pine logs, is one of the best-known wooden buildings in Europe and was inscribed by UNESCO in 1994.
Read the complete Petäjävesi Old Church write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Petäjävesi Old Church is where the day begins. Next is Aalto Campus.
2. Aalto Campus
Alvar Aalto grew up in Jyväskylä, and the city wears his work like a signature. The university campus on the hill of Seminaarinmäki is one of his great achievements, designed in the 1950s around the older buildings of the teacher training college that had stood here since the nineteenth century. Red brick, timber, copper and glass, arranged around a sloping green with tall pines, it feels less like an institution than a village built for thinking. The main building, with its grand stair and lecture hall, the library and the sports hall all carry his particular mix of warmth and rigour. Walk around and you notice the details: the door handles, the light, the way the buildings follow the slope.
Read the complete Aalto Campus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Aalto Campus comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Experimental House.
3. Experimental House
Alvar Aalto built himself a summer house here on Muuratsalo, an island in Lake Päijänne's northern waters near Jyväskylä, and called it the Experimental House. He began it in the early 1950s, and the idea was literal: the walls of the square courtyard are patched with dozens of different bricks and tiles, laid out as samples to see how they weathered through Finnish winters. It is a low whitewashed building with a courtyard open to the sky, and it sits between the pines and the water. Nearby, in Säynätsalo, his town hall of dark red brick is a gem of Finnish modernism.
Read the complete Experimental House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Experimental House. Next is PUOLAKKA Oravivuori.
4. PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
Finland's lakeland is a country of water more than of land, and Päijänne, the second largest lake in the country, runs south from here for over a hundred kilometres in long, island-dotted fingers. Oravivuori, Squirrel Hill, is a forested rise near Puolakka in the Korpilahti district, now part of Jyväskylä, and the lookout on the hill gives a wide view over spruce, pine and the shining lake beyond. The label points to a hill rather than a monument, so think of it as a place to climb, look and breathe.
Read the complete PUOLAKKA Oravivuori write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori, about halfway. Next is Säynätsalo Town Hall.
5. Säynätsalo Town Hall
Alvar Aalto won the competition for this building in 1949, and it was finished in 1952, a village council hall on a small island in Lake Päijänne that has become a pilgrimage for architects. Säynätsalo sits just across a short bridge from the town of Muurame, with Jyväskylä, the city where Aalto spent so much of his working life, a few kilometres north; the island is now part of Jyväskylä itself. The town hall is a cluster of red brick and timber around a raised courtyard of grass, and the council chamber stands over it with its high roof, fan-shaped wooden trusses and a hush of slanted light.
Read the complete Säynätsalo Town Hall write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Säynätsalo Town Hall sits at 125 km, about halfway. Next is back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori.
6. back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete PUOLAKKA Oravivuori write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori comes up about 170 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Experimental House.
7. back through Experimental House
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Experimental House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 213 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Experimental House. Next is back through Aalto Campus.
8. back through Aalto Campus
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Aalto Campus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Aalto Campus, late in the day. Next is Petäjävesi Old Church.
9. Petäjävesi Old Church
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Petäjävesi Old Church write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 266 km.
Leg by leg
Petäjävesi Old Church to Aalto Campus
Petäjävesi Old Church → Aalto Campus is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Aalto Campus to Experimental House
Aalto Campus → Experimental House is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Experimental House to PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
Experimental House → PUOLAKKA Oravivuori is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori to Säynätsalo Town Hall
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori → Säynätsalo Town Hall is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Säynätsalo Town Hall to back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
Säynätsalo Town Hall → back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori to back through Experimental House
back through PUOLAKKA Oravivuori → back through Experimental House is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Experimental House to back through Aalto Campus
back through Experimental House → back through Aalto Campus is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Aalto Campus to Petäjävesi Old Church
back through Aalto Campus → Petäjävesi Old Church is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.