Nuuksio National Park at the end of winter and beginning of spring. Temperatures are rising and snow and ice are melting making the air foggy in April.Snow has melted, but the lakes are still covered in ice.Spring is in full swing by Easter, when you can have a Finnish delicacy, the mämmi.Misty morning after a cold night in April.One of the first flowers to bloom in April, the common hepatica or sinivuokko in Finnish, is a much anticipated sign of nature waking up to another summer.Common hepaticas in Nuuksio National Park.The quiet side of the national park, the trails are hidden deep in the woods.Pink hepaticas are rarer than the blueish violet ones.Peaceful time by the lakes. There are no mosquitoes in the spring, but the weather is like in summer.White hepaticas can be found, if you know where to look.Walk right next to the lakes on quiet trails.Long days in May and the beauty of calm lakes, after everything being frozen in winter.Wildflowers are blooming, these are Finnish Mother’s Day flowers, wood anemones, valkovuokko in Finnish.Warm days with no mosquitoes in the forest, this is a bliss.Beautiful green colors of the new leaves.Trail through blueberry bushes. Weekdays in spring and there’s nobody else on the trails.Enjoying Finland’s nature together, in every weather, in Nuuksio National Park.Spring is turning into summer at the end of May or beginning of June.A blueberry blooming in May, these will become the berries.Take your children with you to the forest in Nuuksio National Park.Calm evening at the lakes, the trees are full of birds singing.Everything is full of life as spring turns into summer.
Summer – June, July, August & mid-September
Peace and quiet on a summer morning in Nuuksio National Park.Warm afternoon in June. One of the best things about early summer: good weather and very little mosquitoes.The sweetness of the beginning of summer in Finland, as everything comes back to life and the lakes sparkle in sunlight.Lingonberry is blooming, the berries will be ripe in late summer or fall.Beautiful and really warm early summer’s day in June. Trails in Nuuksio National Park often follow the lakes’ shorelines, which makes hiking super nice.First common edible mushroom pop up in June or July, but their growth depends a lot on the weather. They need rain and warmth.Blue lakes, white clouds and the forest, this is Finland.This is what the summers are made of: being in a clear lake when the waters are warm.Wild blueberries (actually bilberries, Vaccinium myrtillus) ripen in early July. Best season for picking them is usually from mid-July to mid-August.Handful of blueberries, open your mouth and throw them in. Everybody can pick berries in Finland thanks to our Everyman’s rights.Nuuksio National Park in summer. A small stream finding it’s way on the forest floor in July.If you know where to look, you might find the treasure of Lapland here in Nuuksio as well. The cloudberry. So good.Peace of summer evenings at the lakes. This is what everybody wants, this is The Moment of summer.Swimming in the clear lakes with Finland’s national fish, the european perch, ahven in Finnish.Peaceful sunset when the nights don’t get dark at all, and the dusk just hangs around till morning. Moody times.A gentle wind moving reeds on a summer evening in July.Nights are getting darker again, that means gorgeous sunsets at the lakes.Yellow water-lilies floating on a lake’s surface in August.Mist rises from a lake in Nuuksio National Park as the sun rises after a cool night in August.The closer we get to fall, the more mushrooms there will be. These really tasty ones are horns of plenty.So many lakes and so much forest to hike in, and this is only half an hour away from Helsinki.Summer’s end in August, when the nights start to get dark again.
Fall – mid-September, October & November
Nuuksio National Park in fall. We get spectacular fall colours here in Southern Finland as well!Beginning of fall, the trees are slowly changing colors and the lakes get colder.Absolutely massive horns of plenty (black trumpets, black chanterelles). We can pick mushrooms and cook them in the forest.Spiderweb covered in dewdrops on a foggy fall morning in September.Leaves turning yellow at the end of September. Best fall colors are usually in mid-October.Handful of wild cranberries straight from nature.Sun rising over Nuuksio National Park on a foggy morning in October.The chanterelle, summer delicacy, popping up late in the fall.Fall’s blue moment in October. It’s a magical moment when the world is completely still after sunset. Wait a bit longer and you’ll see the stars.Trails are quiet on weekdays in November.Find the mushrooms beneath all the fallen leaves.Best mushroom of the fall, the funnel chanterelle, or yellowfoot. Find a place where these grow and you’ll usually find a lot of them.Having my morning coffee by a beautiful lake.Hiking in Nuuksio National Park with children. Kids love to be on adventures.Nuuksio National Park in fall. The low-hanging sun of October, November and December make the landscape feel magical.Peaceful November morning in Finnish nature.Snow has fallen on the quiet trails.Cold nights and sunny days in November.First snowfall can be very intense or really gentle and soft, which just barely covers the trails.It’s a beautiful morning when the lakes have frozen for the first time.Pine trees after snowfall in November with frozen lake in the background.There’s something really special about being in a forest when it snows. The world seems so quiet, yet so beautiful.
Winter – December, January, February & March
Nuuksio National Park at the beginning of winter.A very cold December morning with mist floating at the bottom of a valley.Snow and frost covered trees in the forest.Snow-covered trees in December. Weather in December can vary greatly, sometimes it’s like this and other years the fall continues through December.Hiking in the forest, at the frozen lakes, in Nuuksio National Park in winter.Rising sun lighting the low hanging mist in December.Snow and sunshine through the trees, best of winter.Nuuksio National Park in winter. The amazing beauty and peacefulness of a Finnish forest in January, when all the trees are covered in snow.Beauty of sunlight finding it’s way to old snow-covered branches in January.Lynxes like to walk on the same trails with us.The last light of the day shining on trees covered by snowfall.Nightfall in winter can be magical. The light fades slowly and you can feel the air getting colder.Heavy snowfall in February.Lots of snow and a silent forest in February.At it’s best the winters can be absolutely stunning here in Nuuksio National Park.Snowshoeing in complete peace, there’s often nobody else in the forest on weekdays.Snowshoe trail at night with headtorches. So beautiful.Nuuksio National Park in winter. Trees covered in snow, the landscape is so beautiful. Best of winter in Finland.So much snow, this is winter at it’s best.Hiking in the forest and having a break on a lovely Valentine’s Day.My personal adventures in Nuuksio National Park, camping in the cold winter.
