Vilkaharju is a longitudinal esker deposited by subglacial tunnel stream. Vilkaharju`s sheer southern areas open up into beautiful lakeland scenery, while its northern parts are surrounded by moraine fields dotted by kettles. The area emerged from underneath the continental ice sheet around 11,400 years ago. Back then the edge of the ice sheet was lapped by the waters of the dammed Saimaa ice lake which discharged into the level of the Yoldia Sea, predecessor of the Baltic Sea. The Greater Saimaa shorelines in the Vilkaharju area are at around 85msl.