Alutaguse National Park

Alutaguse was declared a national park only in 2018, pulling together reserves that had been protected separately for decades. It is the largest forest massif in Estonia - pine, spruce and birch over raised bog, with very few roads through it - and it holds the country's densest populations of brown bear and lynx.

What you actually see

Long stretches of forest and open bog with boardwalk trails at the accessible edges, the sandy pine shore of Lake Peipus at Kauksi, and the Kurtna lake district, a cluster of around forty small lakes in a former glacial delta.

The park's flagship species is the Siberian flying squirrel, which survives in Estonia only in this corner of the country and is strictly nocturnal, so almost nobody sees one. Bear and lynx are present in real numbers and equally unlikely to be seen.

When to go

• June to September - boardwalks dry, berries in the bogs, warm enough to swim at Kauksi.
• Winter - the best time to read what lives here, because tracks in snow show what the forest hides.
• Late spring - very wet underfoot away from boardwalks.

Honest expectations

There is no single viewpoint or headline sight. The park is a large quiet forest, and its value is in walking through it rather than arriving somewhere.

Wildlife watching here is a matter of luck and patience, and organised bear hides are run by private operators outside the park. Turning up hoping to see a bear from the road will not work.

Nearby

Kauksi beach on Lake Peipus is at the southern edge. The Baltic Klint coast, Valaste waterfall and the mining museum at Kohtla-Nõmme are all within an hour north.