Loppula Nature House is the former official residence of the Oulu City Forest Ranger. It is located by the Sanginjoki river, about 20 km from the city center (Sanginjoentie 1101). The new, extensive Sanginjoki Nature Reserve begins immediately behind the yard of the house.
The log house was built in 1953, and the last full-time ranger, Ahti Väyrynen, lived there with his family. Ahti's father and grandfather had also been rangers and lived in the very same place. The name of the house (“End-place”) is said to originate in its location at the erstwhile end point of the road called Sanginjoentie. A much older barn building can also be found in the yard, as well as a forest worker's residence that is now in derelict condition. On the other side of the road, there is a charming little sauna on the banks of the river. After Ahti had retired and the family moved away, the house stood empty for a while at the beginning of the millennium until nature organizations in Oulu started renting it out for use as a nature café in 2016.
The large continuous forest area of 2600 hectares just north of the Loppula yard was donated by the King of Sweden, Charles IX, to the young city of Oulu as a “mast and timber” forest in the early years of the seventeenth century. The terrain has been a very popular area for berry picking and hiking, and the Isokangas Nature Reserve is located at the eastern end of the area. In 2004, the nature organizations in Oulu launched an initiative to protect the entire Sanginjoki forest. After a lengthy process, conservation finally came to fruition in 2020 when the Kone Foundation purchased the then still unprotected area of 1440 hectares and donated it to the state as a nature reserve. At the same time, the city of Oulu handed over the remaining parts of the forest to the state, and thus the entire forest became a large conservation area with the dimensions of a national park.
During the campaign for the conservation of the forest, the city of Oulu put the Loppula house up for sale in spring 2020, and the Friends of Loppula Association was set up in order to buy the property. The Association sought funding from the Kone Foundation, which not only provided a grant to purchase and renovate the house but also engaged in the forest transactions described above. Now, for just over a year, the Association has owned and managed Loppula, planning renovations and leasing the premises to, for example, the local Nature Conservation Association for use as a nature café. Also, the future entrepreneur, Naturest Oy, has already participated in activities at the house.
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Loppula Nature Cafe is now (2024) open every Saturday and Sunday and during most school vacation periods from 12 to 5 p.m.
Metsähallitus manages the routes and structures in the nature reserve and serves visitors from Liminka Bay Visitor Centre (https://www.nationalparks.fi/liminkabayvisitorcentre).
More info: info@loppula.fi
Welcome to explore Loppula and the Sanginjoki forest!
