Marttila

Marttila (Swedish: S:t Mårtens) is a small town and municipality in Finland Proper. This article covers also Koski (Koskis) in the north-east.

Understand
Marttila has some 2,000 inhabitants, half of the in the centre, which is the only major settlement. Koski has 2,300 inhabitants, likewise with half of them in the centre.

The word Koski means rapids and indeed, Koski has several of them along Paimionjoki, with former mills for grain and industry. Koski has many namesakes, but only one used to be a municipality. To distinguish between the two, Koski is often called Koski Tl (for the former province).

Get in
Highway 10 and Hämeen Härkätie between Turku and Hämeenlinna pass through Marttila and Koski, the latter through the centres, the former 2½ km north of them. Hämeen Härkätie is a historic route with medieval heritage. Highway 10 passes also Jokioinen and Forssa.

Road 224 leads from Salo via Marttila to Aura. Salo is on Highway 1; this is probably the most convenient route from Helsinki by car. Road 181 leads from Kimitoön via Paimio to Highway 10 in Tarvasjoki, 10 km west of Marttila.

Road 2407 starts 7 km north of Salo on Highway 52 (towards Somero) and leads to Koski. Road 2810 leads from Somero to Koski.

By bus
Express coaches along Highway 10 (often Turku–Hämeenlinna–Lahti) stop at the highway junctions (from Turku to Marttila: €7–9, 30 min). The regular services, few in weekends, from Turku to Koski or Somero drive through also the Marttila centre, 45 min. See Matkahuolto.

From farther away with no direct connections, you should probably transfer in Hämeenlinna, Somero or Turku. Forssa may also be possible.

Marttilankorpi
The main trailheads are at Huhtaanmaja of Heikola in the south-west (see Sleep below) and at Palainen beach (see its entry above) in the north-west. Huhtaanmäentie connects the two trailheads via a parking halfway. There is a trailhead also at the Raatala shelter. Maps are available as PDF (check the "kartat" links).

Huhtanmäki offers two circle trails, which can be combined to routes of 2.5, 4 or 5 km, and two sidetrips of 2×300 m. Palainen has a 6.7-km loop, a trail to another loop (for e.g. 6.7+2×2+2 km) and trails to secondary trailheads (the parking 1 km, Raatala, with shelter, 6.7 km). There is also a 4.5-km link between the Huhtaanmaja and Palainen trails, 6.5 km for hiking directly between the two. A hike from Huhtaanmaja to Palainen, hiking also most of the circle trails, would be 25 km.

The area has lean-to shelters, tent sites, campfire sites (mind wildfire warnings), dry toilets, the beach and the cottage. Some sights are marked on the map, including a few lookouts, a badger's sett, a "devil's field" (shingle beach) and old-growth woods. Water should be available at the main trailheads.

Sleep
There are no hotels, but lodging is available in connection with some activities, or at those places without using other services. If looking at aggregator sites, check that the suggested locations are indeed in the area.

Wild camping is not recommended, as there aren't any large woods, but there are designated spots and lean-to shelters along the trails of Marttilan Korven eräreitistö.



Lodging is available also at Kylämäki Horse Farm and Silver River, see above.