Canals and locks of Finland

A waterway before the railway

Finland has 188,000 lakes, but they don't form a single connected system. Between them lie isthmuses, rapids and changes in elevation, and before railways and roads these were obstacles to trade. Canals removed them. From the military canals of the 1700s to the great lock canals of the 1800s and the log-floating canals of the 1900s – each canal tells you what people wanted to move at the time, and to where.

Suvorov's military canals

The oldest canals were not built for trade but for war. In the late 1700s, Russia controlled the eastern part of Saimaa and needed a route for its gunboats that Sweden couldn't watch. General Suvorov had four canals built between 1791 and 1798 across isthmuses between Saimaa's islands: Kutvele, Käyhkää, Kukonharju and Telataipale. The Kutvele canal in Taipalsaari is still in use, and Sulkava's Telakanava is a museum site. They are Finland's oldest canals.

The Saimaa Canal and the age of lock canals

The Saimaa Canal opened in 1856, connecting the Lakeland region to the sea. Canals were then dug everywhere: Vääksy (1871) linked Lake Vesijärvi to Lake Päijänne, Murole (1854) and Herraskoski opened the Näsijärvi route north, and the Pielisjoki canals carried traffic from Joensuu to Pielinen. The Höytiäinen canal was born by accident in 1859, when a dam built to lower the lake burst and the lake dropped by 9.5 metres in a single night – the drop is still 11.7 metres today.

The Vääksy canal is now Finland's busiest boating canal: on summer days there's a queue on both sides of the lock. The Saimaa Canal museum at the Mälkiä lock in Lappeenranta tells the story of how the canal was built and why it runs through land leased from Russia.

Museum canals

When log floating ended and ships grew larger, old canals were left behind. Some have been preserved as museum canals: Jakokoski in Kontiolahti on the Pielisjoki, the old Taipale canal in Varkaus, the Heinävesi Canal Museum at the Kerma lock. There, the lock gates are wooden and the machinery hand-operated. A swing bridge built in 1877 crosses the Murole canal.

Before you go

• Locking through is free at the Transport Infrastructure Agency's canals, and self-service or remote-controlled during the boating season (May–September). Instructions are posted at the lock.
• Canals are good places to watch even without a boat: you can follow the locking process from the shore, and many canals have a café and a museum.
• Hold children's hands in the lock area. The gates open and the water level changes quickly.
• For paddlers: the small Suvorov canals and the museum canals make good routes, since they don't need locking through.