Where does the name Jättiläisenmaa ("Land of the Giant") come from?
For a long time, stories of giants and strongmen have been told in the Paltamo and Lake Oulujärvi region. These tales are partly rooted in truth, as three of Finland's tallest men—Daniel Cajanus, Väinö Myllyrinne, and Lauri Moilanen—all came from Kainuu and ranked among the ten tallest men in the world. Each of these towering Kainuu natives stood around 2.5 meters tall.
– Text copied from the ArcticGiant website.
Land of the Giant
The Land of the Giant is located in Kivesvaara. What a cool place! How have we missed it, even though we’ve driven past several times? The road there was gravelly, winding, and long... but it was totally worth it. The views stretching into the distance were absolutely stunning! And we saw a birdhouse made by a giant. It was HUGE! There was also a rock exhibition – incredibly varied and interesting!
We started by walking to the lookout point, where we admired the breathtaking Finnish landscapes. Finnish summer really is beautiful – lakes and forests everywhere. From there, we followed the rock exhibition trail toward the playground, which had plenty of fun things for the kids to do. The kids even said the swings there were the best ever!
Brian lit a fire in the kota (traditional Finnish hut), where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. We were joined by a friendly couple from Kajaani, and we ended up chatting for quite a while! It's a perfect stop for families – plenty to do for kids and all the facilities you need for a relaxing day outdoors.
Here’s what you’ll find there:
✅ Playground
✅ Kota (campfire hut)
✅ Toilet
✅ Easy-access rock trail
✅ Scenic lookout point
✅ Plenty of parking
…And peace and quiet.
BONUS:
The Land of the Giant is also home to the ArcticGiant hotel restaurant – and we’re DEFINITELY coming back to visit it next time. Just the adults. It’s on the bucket list now.
We only share locations, where we have been exploring and visiting as a family of 10, you get very special things in our website!
SUOMEKSI: https://www.savolaisetseikkailee.fi/l/jattilaisen-maa/
