If you backtrack around 200 meters from where the bus leaves you in Kattila at the Nuuksio National Park, you can find a short trail which takes you to see a historical natural formation – a giant’s kettle (hiidenkirnu in Finnish).
Our family used to visit Nuuksio for day treks almost every weekend when the children were smaller. Now it’s often just me and hubby. I enjoy the silence, fresh air and beautiful nature in Nuuksio. We are lucky to have such a national park in Espoo.
From the roadside, you will see a sign pointing to the trail you should take. Follow the path, it’s only 130 meters.
Don’t be fooled by all the fallen trees, you need to climb over them to get to the top.
At the end, you will see that there’s an arrow pointing you to the right direction!
On the rock – the giant’s kettle/cauldron/pothole.
What a perfect round form. So smooth and regular, as if someone had drilled it there for a purpose.
These potholes were formed by ice, water and rocks swirling on the rock and thus drilling a hole like this. This was as far back as the end of the Ice Age! Nothing manmade about them.
There are several of these in Nuuksio, but in my experience, this one is easiest to access.
Here’s a short clip for you to see what the area is like. You can hear the birds chirping, otherwise it’s very silent.
Do you like trekking or hiking? Have you been to Nuuksio?
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
There is a 900 km trail in Southern Ontario, Canada called the Bruce Trail which follows the Niagara Escarpment. It is a spectacular hiking experience and has many of these kettles both large and small which were formed by the retreating ice glaciers. Nature is truly wonderful 🙂
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In Finland I hiked 3 days from Hetta to Pallas – I think the park is called Pallastuntuuri, or something similar, and is one of the biggest in Finland.
Also – in the Netherlands I went to a national park to see ‘hunnenbaden’ which means “giants’ beds”. I hope that the giants didn’t have to come all the way from the Netherlands to Finland just to have a cup of tea / coffee in the morning!
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Oh we did that hike too (although I don’t think we went all the way to Pallas), the scenery was great but the mosquitoes insane!! Our son was 3 and he was covered in bites, everyone thought he had chicken pox! Haha with the giants’ beds, I guess for giants the hike from Netherlands to Nuuksio might not be so bad at all 😂
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I haven’t been to Nuuksio yet, but perhaps someday! But we do have Repovesi national park just 30 minutes away and we do go hikes there with the kids. So enjoyable! Thanks for leading me to your blog 😊
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Oh Repovesi sounds great too! There’s so many interesting national parks in Finland which I’d like to visit. One I’d like to do in the Fall is the small Karhunkierros hike… 😊
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You are lucky to live so close to nature. I haven’t been to Nuuksio yet but it’s on my list. This weekend perhaps 🙂
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Ooh I hope you get to go, it’s so peaceful and tranquil 😊🐦
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Geology is fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks, it sure is amazing, I love discovering things like this 😎
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What a beautiful place! I’m so impressed by the large round holes. It’s impressive what nature does, isn’t it?
Here in the Sacramento area, there are many hikes and trails you can do. My husband and I were pretty excited about doing some of the during the summer, but his knee is a bit off and we had to postpone our hikes. Shame.
Still, it’s always good to live so close to nature.
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Sacramento sounds great with all the trails. Would be fun to explore the different states in the US. There would be so much to discover. Sorry about your Hubby’s knee, I wish him a speedy recovery!
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Thanks 🙂
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so peaceful and tranquil there!!
I can’t believe this is not a man-made pothole, wow… quite interesting…
although Sofia lies at the foot of a mountain (natura park Vitosha), we rarely go there… did your kids like treking when they were little? any tips how to get mine interested? 🙂
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Oh Vitosha, I would love to go. I heard you can even downhill ski there in the winter, do you do that? Yes our kids liked trekking when they were small but then it changed 🤔 Nowadays our son groans and moans and our daughter won’t come with us 😉 But son does like to camp, so if there’s that involved, he will go. I won’t though!! When sailing we do trekking on the islands, son complains through it, hehe.
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Now if I was a conspiracy theorists, I would say they were were water reservoirs dug by aliens who were stranded on earth. 🙂 Luckily, I think aliens would have gone for a softer rock. 🙂
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Oh yes, that would be one good theory for sure 😱 Now there’s so much water in the kettle that you can’t tell if there’s a rock in there – the culprit 🤔
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Our National Parks are all really interesting. We have never visited Nuuksio, but many others. My favourite UKK National Park in Lapland, but to visit there needs a week or more. The nearest one is Seitseminen, worth visting.
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That’s true, we have excellent National Parks. I hope to explore more this summer. We usually go to Nuuksio as it’s so near. I haven’t been to UKK or Seitseminen. The Northernmost one I’ve been to is Pallas-Yllästunturi, starting at Hetta. xx
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We also enjoy the peace and tranquility of Nuuksio, perhaps we’ll be heading that way soon!
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Great idea, soon there will be blueberries too!
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You are lucky to have place like that near your home! I think I have been to Nuuksio as a kid but I really don’t remember anything from it. (Except the hiidenkirnu after seeing your photo) Maybe I should plan a hike there next summer 🙂
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It’s a good idea, you can also stay the night if you like camping 😀
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