Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve

Alam-Pedja covers around 34,000 hectares of floodplain, bog and forest where the Pedja, Põltsamaa and Emajõgi rivers meet. It has never been drained or cleared, and there are no through roads - which in a country as small and accessible as Estonia makes it genuinely remote.

What you actually see

Depending on the season, either a forest standing in water or a mosaic of raised bog, wet meadow and slow black rivers. Boardwalk trails run in from the edges - Kirna, Palupõhja and Selli-Sillaotsa are the usual entry points - with observation towers at a few of them.

The wildlife list is the strongest in the country: elk, wild boar, wolf, lynx and beaver all resident, black stork and greater spotted eagle breeding, and cranes on passage.

When to go

• April to May - the spring flood, when the rivers spread out through the forest and canoeing becomes the way to move.
• June to September - boardwalks passable, birds active, mosquitoes serious.
• Winter - frozen and silent, and the best time to read tracks.

Honest expectations

This is not a park with facilities. Away from the marked boardwalks it is genuinely difficult ground - wet, trackless, and easy to get turned around in. Going into the interior without local knowledge or a guide is a bad idea.

Insects between June and August are worse here than anywhere else on this list. That is not an exaggeration.

Nearby

Tartu is about an hour southeast. Emajõgi canoe routes run from Tartu into the reserve, and Lake Võrtsjärv lies just south.