History of the Camping site

Kalajoki

"Nature's greatest invention"

The world-famous camping site was founded in Hiekkasärkät in the early 1960s.

The beaches of Hiekkasärkät had long been a popular holiday destination for locals and travelers alike. Even the first tourism companies were already in operation.

In the beginning of the 1960s, the city of Kalajoki started focusing on the development of the area for tourism purposes. The city made a 50-year contract to rent the beach area for the establishment of a camping site.

The newly built camping site was given a new road, a kiosk, a cooking area and toilets. The first summer saw around 2500 overnight visitors.

The regional newspaper interviewed a camper who stayed overnight in the area in the summer of 1963, sales manager Paavo Pouttu, who thought that “To be such a magnificent place, it would certainly deserve much more advertising, it is unlikely that many foreigners would think to turn here from the main road after seeing just one modest road sign.”

The article continues to tell that “This summer, there is also a stylish new sauna opened at the edge of the beach, very close to the sea”

And predict the future: “it is a place suitable even for representation of diplomatic meetings”.

In fact, in 1966, the sauna worked as a diplomatic meeting point between the President of Finland Urho Kekkonen and the Prime Minister of Soviet Union Aleksei Kosygin.

In 1967, Apu –magazine wrote that “Santapakat is a natural treasure, the magnificent center of summer- and winter travelling in the future; nature’s greatest invention which attracts the entrepreneurship of the people. It is the gold-mine and source of tourism in the poor Central Ostrobothnia

The camping site got its own bar in 1968 with 40 seats inside. On the same year, the first travel brochure of the area was printed.

Of foreign countries, the Hiekkasärkät area was mostly advertised in Norway. Many of the travelers who stayed overnight in the camping area still came from Sweden and Norway even as late as in the 1980s.

In 1972 the camping site became the most popular campsite in Finland. The record-breaking number of visitors, 90 000, was reached in 1987.

Image descriptions:

  • The camping area beach in the 1970s. (city of Kalajoki)
  • The camping site in the 1960s. (Keskipohjanmaan liitto)
  • Sauna by the beach and the dock for boat Kalle (city of Kalajoki)
  • President Kekkonen and company at the sauna (Kalajokiseutu-newspaper image 6.9.2002 / Lauri Järvinen)
  • First summer cabins in the camping site
  • The bar, Leiribaari, at the end of the 1960s. (Rauha Alajoki)
  • An aerial shot of the camping site. (Tmi Karhumäki / postal card)
  • The camping site kiosk and the flag of Finland in 1962. (Pekka Koivula)

Address

Tuomipakkaintie 20

Tales from Hiekkasärkät

Do you know how Herrainpakat got its name? Where did Kekkonen, Tauno Palo and Ansa Ikonen visit? When did the JukuJukuMaa Waterpark first open? Is it true that there was a railway and Finland’s longest waterslide down at the beach?

Learn these facts and loads of other interesting tales about the history of the Hiekkäsärkät area!

When you click the heading image, you can swipe and see the rest of the pictures.

Information about the route:

  • You can experience the route by walking or bicycling in part or in its entirety, or completely remotely in digital form.
  • The entire route is app. 10 km long, but you can also just tour the central area of Hiekkasärkät.
  • The route uses sidewalks, duckboards, and open spaces like squares and parking lots.

The route is made in collaboration with the KUMA project and expert on built heritage Sari Alajoki.

Image sources:

  • Camping site in the 1970s. (City of Kalajoki)
  • Hilma's Hotel. (Kalajoen kotiseutuyhdistys)
  • Midsummer celebrations at the beach. (Sari Alajoki private collection)