The Pyynikki Esker (or the Pyynikki Ridge; fi, Pyynikinharju) is the tallest longitudinal

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Ame ...

in the world, located in

Pyynikki Pyynikki ( sv, Pynike) is a district and a nature reserve in Tampere, Finland. It is located in the Pyynikinharju ridge, between the city center and the western district of Pispala. Pyynikinharju is the highest esker in the world, rising 85 meter ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

.Tutustu Tampereen luontoon
(in Finnish) The ridge rises to a height of 160 meters above sea level and 80 meters above the surface of Lake Pyhäjärvi. The Pyynikki Esker belongs to the ridge formation that extends from South Ostrobothnia to Salpausselkä. The ridge formation continues west of the Pyynikki Esker as a rocky ridge known as the Pispala Esker (Pispalanharju) and Tahmela. To the east, after the settlement of Tampere, the ridge becomes the Kalevankangas esker, where there has been a cemetery by same name for almost 150 years. In

Kangasala Kangasala is a city in Finland which is situated about 16 kilometres East of Tampere. The city was founded in 1865 and had a population of people as of . Kangasala covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finnish auth ...

, the ridge formation continues as the four ridges called Kirkkoharju, Kuohunharju, Keisarinharju and Vehoniemenharju. The Pyynikki Esker, like longitudinal ridges, is mainly gravel and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...

. There are still some old

European red pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

s growing in Pyynikki, whose roots are partly in the air, as the sandy ground rolls down towards Lake Pyhäjärvi over the years. Vegetation on gravel ridges has not only pines but also

junipers Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

that are protected. However,

juniper berries A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry, but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especia ...

can be picked when you remember that the branches should not be folded or the juniper should not be removed from the ground. There also grows

Norway maple ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

s, which give the ridge a beautiful color in autumn. Mountain currants also grow on these ridges. In the middle of the

heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and ...

you can find

golden chanterelle ''Cantharellus'' is a genus of popular edible mushrooms, commonly known as chanterelles, a name which can also refer to the type species, ''Cantharellus cibarius''. They are mycorrhizal fungi, meaning they form symbiotic associations with pla ...

s and in the autumn a few other edible

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

Lingonberries ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Norther ...

also thrive on the southern slopes.PYYNIKKI - Tietokantatunnus: TUU-04-005
- Ympäristö (in Finnish) The Pyynikki observation tower, built in 1929, is still in use. It has a ground-level

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

. There are wooden stairs at several points on the slopes of Pyynikki, along which you can reach the top of the Pyynikki Esker from the shore of Lake Pyhäjärvi. Biese, Talvinen näköala Pyynikiltä

References

External links

Panorama picture near the Pyynikki observation tower
– Virtual Tampere (in Finnish) Eskers Isthmuses of Europe Landforms of Finland Pyynikki Scenic viewpoints Tourist attractions in Finland {{WesternFinland-geo-stub

See also

References

External links