Welcome to the Vuoksa site!

 

 

The Vuoksa River (Russian: Вуокса; Finnish: Vuoksi; Swedish: Vuoksen) runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, an older main northern branch at Priozersk (Käkisalmi), a smaller branch few km. to the north of it and since 1857 a new southern branch entering fifty kilometers further southeast as Burnaya River (Finnish: Taipaleenjoki), which has become the main stream in terms of water discharge.

 

The old northern distributaries drain only the lower reaches of the Vuoksi basin after 1857 and are not fed by waters of the Lake Saimaa. Northern and southern branches actually belong to two separate river systems, which at times get isolated from each other in dry seasons.

 

The descent between Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga is 69 meters. The entire run of the river is 162 kilometers via the Priozersk branch or 150 kilometers via the Taipale branch. For most of its length, the river broadens out to a series of lakes bound together by shorter riverlike connections. One of these lakes, Vuoksa lake (Uusijärvi) close to Priozersk.