Where to Stay in Siikajoki, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa

Siikajoki is known as a long coastal-to-inland municipality of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, reaching from the church village on the coast up the Siikajoki river to Ruukki in northern Finland. Three old churches mark it. The Siikajoen kirkko, the Revonlahden kirkko and the Paavolan kirkko stand over the villages along the river, while the historic coast road of the Pohjanmaan rantatie crosses the kunta and the inland railway halt of the Tuomiojan rautatieasema keeps the rail era of this stretch of northern Finland.

The Siikajoen kirkko is the landmark of the coastal church village, the old parish church standing near the mouth of the Siikajoki river in northern Finland. Three churches share the kunta. The Revonlahden kirkko and the Paavolan kirkko, each with its detached belfry, the Paavolan kirkon tapuli and the Revonlahden kirkon tapuli, mark the inland parishes, while the historic Pohjanmaan rantatie threads the coast and the Tuomiojan rautatieasema keeps the rail station at Tuomioja.

Older ground survives too, the giant's-church stone formation of the Pesuankankaan jätinkirkko among the heritage of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa around Siikajoki.

Siikajoki's history runs along its river. The old church village grew near the coast where the Siikajoki river meets the sea, and farming and fishing parishes spread inland up the valley, the modern kunta set on its own footing when Siikajoki was chartered in 1868. Churches came first.

The Siikajoen kirkko at the coast, the Revonlahden kirkko and the Paavolan kirkko inland gathered the people of the valley, and the historic coast road of the Pohjanmaan rantatie linked the shore parishes of this part of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa to the wider north. Rail and the inland works reshaped the upper valley. A halt rose at the Tuomiojan rautatieasema where the line crossed the kunta, and Ruukki grew as an inland centre, its later agricultural school kept as the Ruukin maaseutuopisto.

The river carried the past in many forms. Older still, the giant's-church stone formation of the Pesuankankaan jätinkirkko speaks of far earlier settlement, while Siikajoki settled into its long shape as a stretched municipality of northern Finland, running from the coastal Siikajoen kirkko up the Siikajoki river to Ruukki.

Siikajoki stretches from the coast far inland along its river, a long municipality of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa in northern Finland. The Siikajoki river runs the length of the kunta from the inland country down to the church village at the shore, the flat land of bog, field and pinewood spreading on either side. Its valley sets the shape.

A coastal parish around the Siikajoen kirkko sits where the river meets the sea, while the inland villages of Revonlahti, Paavola and Ruukki lie strung up the watercourse across this stretch of northern Finland.

Siikajoki's seasons are set by the coast and the river valley of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa in northern Finland. Winters are long, dark and snowy, frost gripping the Siikajoki river and the flat bogs of the kunta from early in the season to the late spring thaw. The cold runs deep.

Summers turn mild and light across the valley, the short bright season of long northern days when the river villages from the coastal Siikajoen kirkko inland to Ruukki see the warmth before the snow comes back.

Siikajoki is reached by road and rail across Pohjois-Pohjanmaa in northern Finland. The coast route, following the old line of the Pohjanmaan rantatie, runs past the church village near the shore, while the inland railway crosses the kunta at the Tuomiojan rautatieasema halt near Ruukki. Road carries most visitors.

Travellers from farther off come through the larger towns of Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, neighbouring Raahe among them, before the run out to the Siikajoki river and its villages.