Salpausselkä UNESCO Global Geopark

Salpausselkä (Bar Ridge) is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a terminal moraine formation which formed at the end of the last cold age during the Younger Dryas period about 12,250–10,400 years ago. The glaciers ended at this point for some time, which means that continually new ice came from the north, melted and deposited its content of rocks, gravel, and sand. It has an impressive length of 500 km, and the ridges are up to 80 m higher than the surrounding landscape. The southwestern start is at the coastal city Hanko and ends near Joensuu. As the ridge traps the rivers, it is one of the reasons for the Järvi-Suomi (Finnish Lakeland). It forces the water to flow through few breaches in the ridge.

The geopark is dedicated to this remnant of the glaciers and is located in the Lahti region in southern Finland. There are numerous geosites with erratic rocks, moraine, spring which are filtered by the moraine and more. Spectacular are the Onkiniemi Rocking Stone in Sysmä,