Lake Päijänne () is the second largest

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

(). The lake drains into the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

via the Kymi River. The major islands are from north to south Vuoritsalo, Muuratsalo, Onkisalo, Judinsalo, Edessalo, Taivassalo, Haukkasalo, Vehkasalo, Mustassalo, Virmailansaari and Salonsaari. The largest island is Virmailansaari. The word ''saari'' means an island. ''Salo'' once meant a great island, nowadays it means a great forest area. The largest city on the shores of Päijänne is

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

in the North. The city of

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

is connected to Päijänne through Lake Vesijärvi and Vääksy canal. An underground aqueduct, Päijänne Water Tunnel, connects the lake to

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

, providing the

Greater Helsinki Helsinki metropolitan area (, ) or Greater Helsinki (, ) is the metropolitan area around Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It also includes the smaller Helsinki capital region, capital region. The terms Helsinki metropolitan area, Greater H ...

area with water. The deepest point in any lake in Finland is in Päijänne (). The name of Lake Päijänne comes possibly from a Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate language.

Transportation

Päijänne is a famous

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

attraction. The long lake is connected by canals to Lake Keitele, Lake Vesijärvi and to Lake Ruotsalainen. Length of the open waterway for ships is . Construction of canals connecting Päijänne to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

has been discussed for decades. Nevertheless, the plan is still to be materialized. Until the 1940s Lake Päijänne was a major transportation channel in the

Central Finland Central Finland (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

. Numerous ships transported passengers and freight between the villages and cities on the shores of Päijänne. Nowadays, passenger transportation is rather a tourist attraction on the lakelands than the fastest way connecting the cities and villages. One of the most popular passenger transportation routes in summertime is between the cities of

and

Tourism

There are 16,000 cottages on the shores of Päijänne. Most of the cottages are private owned and have a separate sauna cottage. In addition to cottage tourism Päijänne attracts fishing, sailing, canoeing, rowing, paddling, trekking, ice-skating, snow mobile and nature tourists. The National Parks of Päijänne and Leivonmäki alone has tens of thousands of visitors every year. The Clear and Drinkable Lake Päijänne South Association won a Tourism and Environment award presented by the European Union Commission in 1995.

National Parks

Päijänne National Park () is a national park in the southern parts of Lake Päijänne. It consists of 50 unbuilt islands and parts of inhabited islands. The national park has been established in 1993 and has an area of . Leivonmäki National Park is situated few kilometres North East from the Northern part of Lake Päijänne. It is one of the youngest national parks in Finland.

Cities and towns upon Lake Päijänne

From North to South *

(at ) * Säynätsalo (at ) *

Muurame Muurame is a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland, located south-west of Jyväskylä, the regional capital of Central Finland. Muurame itself is located between two lakes, Lake Päijänne and Lake Muuratjärvi. These two lakes are c ...

(at ) *

Toivakka Toivakka is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, near Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually ...

(at ) * Korpilahti (at ) * Jämsä (at ) * Luhanka (at ) *

Joutsa Joutsa is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. Jyväskylä is located about north of the Jouts ...

(at ) * Kuhmoinen (at ) *

Sysmä Sysmä () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is situated in the Päijät-Häme regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ne ...

(at ) * Padasjoki (at ) *

Asikkala Asikkala () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Vääksy, at the shores of the Lake Päijänne. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia regi ...

(at )

Gallery

File:Kalkkisten kanava 5.jpg, Kalkkinen canal File:Pulkkilanharju and Karisalmi Bridge in Asikkala, Päijät-Häme, Finland, 2021 June - 3.jpg, Pulkkilanharju and Karisalmi Bridge in Asikkala File:Vääksyn kanava 2.jpg, Vääksy canal between Päijänne and Lake Vesijärvi File:SataSarvinen4.jpg, View from Hill Satasarvinen in Muuratsalo, Jyväskylä File:Kärkinen_bridge_during_Päijännepurjehdus_2007.jpg, Kärkinen bridge in Korpilahti,

during the Päijännepurjehdus sailing competition File:Tugboat_pulling_logs_in_Finland_in_1930s.jpg, Tugboat pulling logs in Päijänne in 1930s File:Päijänne_1948.jpg, Päijänne from the Puolakanvuori hill in 1948 File:Steam_ships_in_Finland_1936.jpg, Passenger steam ships S/S Jyväskylä, S/S Suomi, S/S Taru and S/S Tehi in Pihlajakoski harbour, Kuhmoinen in 1938 File:Vaajavirta frozen.jpg, Vaajakoski canal in the Northern end of Lake Päijänne

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paijanne Kymi basin Landforms of Central Finland Lakes of Joutsa Lakes of Muurame Lakes of Luhanka Lakes of Jyväskylä Lakes of Sysmä Lakes of Padasjoki Lakes of Jämsä