Koirametsä

« Minimal signage pointing the way to the 50 hectare dog forest in Sipoo. »

Since we still had the use of the rental car on Sunday we drove out to the koirametsä, a 5 hectare dog forest owned by the City of Helsinki, out in Sipoo as I had known about it for a while but never managed to pay a visit. A journalist from Poland actually asked me about it a while back when she was doing an article on dog parks around the world for a Polish dog magazine and used a few pictures from the Helsinki dog park guide I had made. She had heard something about the forest but couldn't find anything in English. It doesn't get much publicity and a lot of the dog owners in our dog park have never heard of it, which is a pity since it really is a huge and lovely place for dogs to enjoy being free to run. It was rated as the best dog park in Helsinki in a recent article about the 80+ local dog parks in the Helsingin Sanomat, too.

« A wide meadow flanked by trees and paths leading into the forest. »

The only rule is that dogs must be leashed or trained well enough to heel on command from 1 March through 19 August to protect much of the wildlife that inhabit the area during their breeding season. The rest of the year dogs can roam at will. There is also a mention that puppies under 5 months of age may be free of the leash at any time which I suspect is the source of the mistaken idea of many puppy owners in the city who frequently comment that puppies are exempt from the leash law. As far as I can tell, the rule only applies to the koirametsä.

(Note: A very nice reader sent some clarification of the leash laws that some might find useful. There are two laws; Järjestyslaki and metsästyslaki. Järjestyslaki applies to metropolitan areas and stipulates that all dogs, regardless of age, must be leashed at all times. Metsästyslaki requires that adult dogs outside of densely populated areas be leashed from March 1st to August 19th to protect wildlife during their breeding season but that puppies may be unleashed at any time.)

The forest is filled with a variety of terrain; marshy low areas, rocky nobs, wide meadows, soft mossy forests and streams. Plenty of opportunities exist for a dog to run, explore, play and get wildly muddy/dirty. It's dog nirvana. :) Take water along, wear good boots and use a compass or GPS as there is no map or marked trail and it's easy to get lost.

The directions on the Helsinki Parks Department directions to the forest are a bit vague, especially if you don't know where things are and the Sipoo map site only works with an IE browser. There is a mention that busses go to or near the forest, but I've not yet been able to figure out the schedule and routes. I made a few extra maps to make it, possibly, easier to find.

• Location in the Helsinki Area (red star on the right).
• Street level location (red star parking area)
• More detailed local map with driving directions.

« Otava bounds down the trail. »