The Pyynikki Esker (or the Pyynikki Ridge; ) 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 Amer ...

in the world, located in

Pyynikki Pyynikki () 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 meters above t ...

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

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, ...

.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 South Ostrobothnia ( ; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobothnia is the ninth largest in terms ...

Salpausselkä Salpausselkä (; "Bar Ridge") is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a large terminal moraine formation that formed in front of the Baltic ice lake during the Younger Dryas period about 12,250–10,400 year ...

. The ridge formation continues west of the Pyynikki Esker as a rocky ridge known as the Pispala Esker (Pispalanharju) and

Tahmela Tahmela is a district in Tampere, Finland. It is located between Ylä-Pispala and Pyynikki on the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi. There is a Varala Sports College in Tahmela. There are rental agricultural plots on the shore of Tahmela, and Kurpitsal ...

. 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 is a town in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. It lies to the east of the regional capital, Tampere. The population of Kangasala is approximately , while the Tampere metropolitan area, metropolitan area has a population of approximat ...

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

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

and

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

. There are still some old European red pines 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 species distribution, distributed throughout the Northern Hem ...

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 called a galbulus, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of ...

can be picked, keeping in mind 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 Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...

Mountain currant ''Ribes alpinum'', known as mountain currant or alpine currant, is a small deciduous, dioecious shrub native to central and northern Europe from Finland and Norway south to the Alps and Pyrenees and Caucasus, Georgia; in the south of its range, ...

s also grow on these ridges. In the middle of the

heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1988 American teen dark comedy crime 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, K ...

are

golden chanterelle Golden chanterelle is the common name for several fungi species; ''golden chanterelle'' may refer to: * '' Cantharellus anzutake'', the Japanese golden chanterelle * ''Cantharellus californicus'', the California golden chanterelle * ''Cantharellus ...

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 another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

Lingonberries ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throug ...

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 serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

. There are wooden stairs at several points on the slopes of Pyynikki leading to the top of the Pyynikki Esker from the shore of Lake Pyhäjärvi.

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