I first ventured into Pieni Neulamäki nearly 15 years ago while geocaching. That is almost half my lifetime. Since then, I have also spent plenty of time cycling through the area’s magnificent forests – sometimes merely passing through, sometimes riding trails that rank among the very best mountain biking routes in Kuopio.
Gravel crunches beneath my tyres as I follow the old railway bed through Pieni Neulamäki. The rain has left puddles along the track. Before long, anyone turning left is treated to one of the finest autumn views in Kuopio – an essential part of any good afternoon gravel ride.
I step onto the old platform and look at the striking ribbon of yellowing trees reflected in the water. The air is crisp, and the noise of the city is nowhere to be heard. Time stands still and my pulse begins to settle. The weight of everyday life no longer presses on my shoulders nearly as heavily as it did moments ago.
While preparing this column, I dug through my old messages. In 2017, I first tried to contact several city councillors, regardless of their political affiliation.
My agenda was to increase the number of local exercise facilities, including outdoor gyms, improve recreational routes across the city, and ensure that people could enjoy meaningful leisure activities regardless of their socioeconomic position. In those messages, I also mentioned the recreational potential of Pieni Neulamäki, particularly for activities such as disc golf, cycling and hiking.
Nearby nature is invaluable to people. A University of Eastern Finland study found that spending more time in nature and engaging in more physical exercise were both associated with stronger positive mental health. However, time spent in nature had a stronger connection with positive mental health than the amount of exercise alone.
Numerous studies and reports have shown that Eastern Finland in particular needs greater investment in mental health. Prevention is generally cheaper than treating problems afterwards.
> Every strip of forest should not be viewed as a new opportunity for housing or business plots.
Although the immediate issue concerns the exceptionally distinctive area of Pieni Neulamäki, we in Kuopio should look at nearby nature as a whole. Waterfront development can also be carried out in a way that allows all residents – and tourists – to enjoy the proximity of Lake Kallavesi. Every strip of forest should not be viewed as a new opportunity for housing or business plots. Land use does not always need to be quite so intensive. More determined reuse of existing areas can also create room for development, as is currently happening in Likolahti.
In my ideal version of Kuopio, it would be possible to travel around the city using gravel roads, ski-track bases and forest paths. Green areas in different neighbourhoods would be marked as parts of a wider route network, connecting shorter recreational routes, nature trails and disc golf courses.
Look slightly to the east, and Joensuu has an enormous trail network: more than 200 kilometres of recreational routes, with various activities along the way. Visiting the area initially prompted some rather sour reflection: “What is stopping Kuopio from doing the same? Puijo is practically the only place where we even have properly marked trails.”
The answer is bleak. What stands in our way is an excessive desire to create more business plots in Kuopio. In Pieni Neulamäki, they would have been blasted into an exceptionally difficult location, at an exceptionally high estimated cost, and in an exceptionally unusual economic situation – one in which demand for new business plots may not justify such a tragedy at the expense of irreplaceable nearby nature.
Storytelling, service design and the promotion of recreational routes are attracting interest in surrounding municipalities and cities. The Suonenjoki mountain biking route has become a nationally recognised attraction. The Savo Gravel routes connect more travel opportunities than anyone could explore during a single summer holiday. Alongside Joensuu’s vast network, the Kolinpolku trail also draws hikers and cyclists towards the region’s own version of Tahko: Koli.
From a tourism perspective, we are leaving such enormous potential unused that one would think the self-proclaimed Capital of Good Life could hardly afford it. Finnish nature is an attraction on a global scale, yet we are the only ones keeping it hidden from view.
That is why we should reassess what kinds of natural values we are prepared to sacrifice. In February 2026, the Eastern Finland Administrative Court overturned the Pieni Neulamäki II detailed local plan because the assessments of the area’s natural values were inadequate. The ruling suggests that those values were not taken seriously enough. Perhaps more thorough studies would have shown precisely that they are simply too valuable to sacrifice.
Antti Kurronen is an outdoorsman from Kuopio whose heart beats for the waves of Kallavesi and the trails of nearby forests. You can read more about Antti’s adventures and the treasures of the archipelago through the excursion destinations he features on his YouTube channel.