What do Ruskeasuo and Laakso offer?
Jogging trails in the snow-free season
Ruskeasuo is part of the Helsinki Central Park with its many hiking trails. The routes that start in Laakso on the southern side of Ruskeasuo continue all the way to Pitkäkoski.
Central Park 1 hiking trail 7.5 km(Link leads to external service)
Route 2000, location on map (Link leads to external service)
Laakso poetry trail (2.5 km)
The easy route runs through a forest with large spruce trees that is home to the flying squirrel. The trail runs near the horse stables. You can complete it in any order you want or only partly. The route is marked in light blue on the mobile map. You can follow the Poetry Tour route and the checkpoints along the route through phone positioning.
Laakso Poetry Tour (citynature.eu) (Link leads to external service)
Skiing tracks in Ruskeasuo and Laakso
There is a 7.5-kilometre skiing track from Laakso to the Pirkkola Sports Park. The skiing tracks in the Central Park run all the way to Pitkäkoski.
Condition of skiing tracks (ulkoliikunta.fi) (Link leads to external service)
Central Park skiing track 1, 7.5 km, location on map(Link leads to external service)
Stable Cafe
In addition to traditional café products, the café that is located in the Ruskeasuo sports hall offers warm food, such as soup. The café’s (accessible) toilet) is available during the opening hours. The café offers the possibility to organise special events.
Opening hours:
On weekdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On weekends from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Stable Cafe (Facebook) (Link leads to external service)
Toilets
The Ruskeasuo sports hall has toilets near the entrance and in the lobby of the sports hall. There are also changing rooms and showers in the sports hall.
Ruskeasuo sports hall, location on map(Link leads to external service)
Outdoor exercise area
There is an outdoor exercise area at the end of the horse riding arena in Laakso.
Laakso riding field/outdoor exercise area, location on map (Link leads to external service)
Ruskeasuo Sports Park
There is a versatile sports park in the heart of the Ruskeasuo outdoor recreation area, and horse riding is one of its most important activities. There is an indoor riding arena next to the sports hall and two outdoor riding fields. There are two horse stables with about 110 horses next to the sports hall. The sports hall also includes a fitness hall, a table tennis room, a boxing hall and a sports hall.
Ruskeasuo Sports Park, location on map(Link leads to external service)
Ruskeasuo archery track
The Ruskeasuo outdoor area has an archery track that is maintained by Helsingin Jousiammuntapiiri (HJAP). The track is freely available for members of HJAP’s member clubs. Members of other clubs (under SJAL or FFAA) can also pay a fee, which permits them to use the track.
Ruskeasuo archery track (helsinginjousiammuntapiiri.fi)(Link leads to external service)
The forest in the Ruskeasuo and Laakso areas is lush, dim, rocky and dominated by spruce.
The Citynature website presents the nature of Central Park
Read more about the nature and history of Central Park.
Central Park page (citynature.eu) (Link leads to external service)
Species observations in Ruskeasuo and Laakso
The iNaturalist application allows you to easily record your species observations on your phone. The artificial intelligence and other application users can help you to identify the species. The confirmed observations are recorded at the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (FinBIF), where they serve researchers, authorities and nature enthusiasts.
Species observations in Ruskeasuo and Laakso (iNaturalist.laji.fi) (Link leads to external service)
Species observations in Ruskeasuo and Laakso (laji.fi/en)(Link leads to external service)
Horses in Ruskeasuo
There are two horse stables in the Ruskeasuo Sports Park with police horses, school horses and privately owned horses. Some of the horses are very sensitive, so please do not move about near the stables and the horse exercise areas unnecessarily.
General rules
In winter, remember the skiing trail rules: no walking or dogs on the trails. Dogs are not allowed on the jogging trails, even in snow-free seasons.
In all outdoor areas, observe Everyman’s Rights and rules and move responsibly in nature:
Accessibility information for Ruskeasuo’s and Laakso’s services is still incomplete. Links to accessibility information will be available here when the analysis is completed.
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Ruskeasuo sports park/Sports Hall (Link leads to external service)
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Ruskeasuo Sports Park/fitness hall(Link leads to external service)
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Ruskeasuo Sports Park/boxing hall(Link leads to external service)
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Ruskeasuo Sports Park/table tennis room(Link leads to external service)
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Laakso riding field/outdoor exercise equipment(Link leads to external service)
Services of the outdoor recreation area on the map
There is a sports park in the Ruskeasuo outdoor recreation area, which includes an indoor riding arena and a versatile sports hall, two riding fields, stables, a ball games court (turned into a skating rink in winter) and an archery track. In addition, there are a few kilometres of riding trails in the area. At the end of Laakso riding arena, you can find outdoor exercise equipment.
