Majestic rocks and lush valleys – hiking in Kökar

Hiking in Kökar takes you through the cliffs and lush groves, and along the trails are the best scenery on the island. You can easily spend a couple of days hiking in Kökar’s trails and paths, so use the opportunity to enjoy the archipelago nature on foot.

Kalen trail is one of the longest trails in Åland’s archipelago.

Kalen nature trail

The Kalen nature trail is 6-8 km long, depending on where you start. It is situated on the western side of Kökar. It takes about 2 hours to hike the route. Add some extra time for breaks and admiring the scenery.

Good starting points are by the Otterböte parking area or the trail end close to the Karlby village. In both places, there is an info sign with a map of the trail. Starting from Karlby allows you to walk the full length of the trail.

Kalen trail. Map source https://www.aland.travel/hiking, modified by me.

The trail is marked with white painted rocks. Along the way, you can see remnants of coastal fortifications from the world wars and get to know the history of them.

Along the trail, there are steep hills and sometimes you have to leap from one boulder to another. In other words, hiking in Kalen is difficult! Wear sturdy shoes or trainers (no flip-flops).

The trail wanders through diverse nature, taking you through what seems like endless cliffs to little valleys with lush, almost jungle-like vegetation. 

In one of these lush valleys you can find hops, it usually does not grow naturally in Finland.

Which way to go?

I prefer hiking the trail clockwise and starting from the Otterböte parking spot. If you leave from the Otterböte parking spot and go to see the seal hunter’s settlement, remember to turn back once you’ve been there, and then go left in the path junction.

If you carry on, you’ll end up close to Karlby, which is another starting point for the trail.

When you do the trail clockwise you will experience the rocky “inland” scenery before you come to the highest point of Kökar, where you get a stunning view of the sea. From there, you go steep downhill, through a lush little valley and then you reach the shore.

The place is called Green Bay and it is one of my favourite places in Kökar. There’s a massive red and smooth rock, which invites you to lie down and enjoy the sun, listening to the sea, which is never silent.

Green Bay is a good location to have a break and enjoy refreshments (which you hopefully brought with you!) and go for a swim!

The trail continues towards the coast guard station. Once you reach a spot where there are three signs with history details, a road goes down the hill and the tall mast is on your right side, the trail continues to the right (not down the hill next to the red house!).

But first, it is worthwhile to follow the trail to the left. Here you can find a cobblestone street from the war era. Walk up the hill until you reach a info sigh, the street is to your left.

If you are interested in the history of the fortifications, you can read more here.

In the end, the trail comes down to a road (this is actually the third starting point of the trail), you will now follow this little red road to the starting point.

A shortcut to Green Bay

If you don’t have time to tour the entire route or you suspect that the route is too challenging, I have a solution! Start from the Coast Guard station and walk to the Green Bay from there.

You can walk or cycle along the road to the station, or you can drive there with a car, until you come to a car park. Leave the car there and continue along the road until you come to the coast guard station.

Turn left by the station gate, walk up the hill, where the trail starts (left side by those 3 info signs). From there it is only a 15-20 minute walk to the bay.

There is only one challenging point on the path, where the path descends a cliff for a drop of about 1.5 meters. It can be done! This way you will still get to enjoy the best views and cliffs of the Kalen trail.

Hamnö trails

Hamnö offers easier trails than Kalen. They are also shorter, only about 2 km each. 

Old Church Trail and Cultural Trail

The old church trail and cultural trail are on the western side of the island. A good starting point is close to the church, where you can see a sign “Gamla kyrkvägen”, meaning the Old Church Trail.

Make sure you choose the most left-hand path leading up to the cliff. This is the cultural trail part, which takes you by old medieval building ruins that once belonged to the monastery.

Once you come down to a sheltered bay, the path continues to the right and passes through the groves back to the church. You can also choose a path going left and follow the shoreline along the cliffs. This is how I found special rock formations, whih are worth seeing. 

You can go back the same way and continue along the path or go around the whole peninsula and move on to the path later. I marked both options on the map, but only the shorter one is an official trail.

In the summertime, sheep are at the pasture in this area. They have made lots and lots of little paths of their own, so it might be difficult to follow the correct one. But it doesn’t matter, it is fun to follow all the different little paths and get a little lost.

The area is so small that you don’t get lost for real. If you keep going, you’ll end up by the church. There are more monastery building ruins close to the church, and also an old well.

Meditation path

The meditation path is on the east side of Hamnö Island and the starting point is by an old cow shed. There’s a sign “Meditationstigen”, just follow the green grassy path down to the church jetty. After that follow the red painted stones.

At first, you walk through a shady grove, followed by beautiful rock and sea landscapes. There are phrases along the path that you can reflect on as you go.