Ruovesi Museum is one of the oldest local history museums in Finland. The collections were started in the 1920's by Einar Palmen MD, the municipal officer for health. The principal part of the collection comprises an open-air museum showing farmyards typical of Northern Häme 100-200 years ago. The 23 buildings situated high on the ridge in the centre of Ruovesi are assembled into two yards.

The first documentation available about the Kuru-Ruovesi road date back to the 1790's. Topographic, demographic and historical information indicate however, that the road existed as far back as the 17th century, continuing the waterways of Lake Näsijärvi and connecting the lakeside farms and villages. Around the middle of the 19th century, as the result of population growth and early industrialization, the road became significant enough to be recorded in guidebooks and maps. Physically, the road is today much as it was back then: scenic but narrow. Even today it is evident that the Kuru-Ruovesi road originated in the needs of the regional communities. It is an unbroken memorial to rural communications and bridge building traditions.

The stretch that is designated as a heritage road (Museotie) branches off the Kuru-Ruovesi road, just off Road no. 66. Signs are posted at each end of the heritage road.