Lahemaa National Park is a park in northern Estonia, 70 kilometers east from the capital Tallinn. The Gulf of Finland is to the north of the park and the Tallinn-Narva highway (E20) is to the south. Its area covers 747 km2 (including 274.9 km2 of sea).
It was the first area to be designated a national park of the former Soviet Union. It is the largest park in Estonia and one of Europe's biggest national parks. Its charter calls for the preservation, research and promotion of North-Estonian landscapes, ecosystems, biodiversity and national heritage.
History
The name Lahemaa originates from the most thoroughly studied and visited part of the North Estonian coast, where four large peninsulas (Juminda, Pärispea, Käsmu and Vergi) are separated from each other by four bays (Kolga, Hara, Eru and Käsmu). Lahemaa translates roughly as "Land of Bays".
Pärispea
The national park, established in 1971, is one of the main tourism drawcards in Estonia. Several companies offer day tour packages from Tallinn, while many people drive themselves.
Tallinn
With forests covering more than 70 percent of Lahemaa, the area is rich in flora and fauna. The landscape has many raised bogs, including the 7,000-year-old Laukasoo Reserve. The park, marked by several trails, teems with wildlife, including a population of boar, red deer, wolves, bear and lynx. The coast is covered with rocks and boulders, used each year by cranes as a stopover on their way to the Bosphorus and Egypt.
Bogs
There are four manors situated in the national park: Palmse manor, the picturesque Vihula manor, Kolga manor, and the baroque Sagadi Manor, Estonia's most visited manor which together with the other three comprise one of the most unusual group of manors in the country.
Prior to 1991, the Soviet Union operated a large secret submarine base at Hara. The base was built in the 1950s during the height of the Cold War. The ruins of this former Soviet submarine base is now located entirely in Lahemaa near the Lahemaa lighthouse.
Lahemaa National Park is the largest park in Estonia and one of Europe's biggest national parks. Its charter calls for the preservation, research and promotion of North-Estonian landscapes, ecosystems,biodiversity and national heritage.
With forests covering more than 70 percent of Lahemaa, the area is rich in flora and fauna. The landscape has many raised bogs, including the 7,000-year-old Laukasoo Reserve.
There are four manors situated in the national park : Palmse manor, the picturesque Vihula manor, Kolga manor, and the baroque Sagadi Manor, Estonia's most visited manor which together with the other three comprise one of the most unusual group of manors in the country.
Palmse manor
The city of Tallinn may be many travellers’ starting point for exploring Estonia, but it’s best to leave the city to get a broader picture of what makes the country so special. One destination that really helps you see the beauty of Estonia, and an excellent day trip from Tallinn is Lahemaa National Park. If pristine nature and tranquil villages interest you, then you really have to visit Lahemaa National Park given the chance.
The park’s name loosely translates as “Land of Bays” due to the four bays along its Baltic Sea coast to the north. Between the bays lie four peninsulas, giving Lahemaa quite a dynamic coastline and some nice beaches. Most of the national park however is covered in forest and – to a lesser extent – bogs and wetland.
Visiting Lahemaa National Park
Village of Käsmu
A great place to start your sightseeing in Lahemaa National Park is the peaceful village of Käsmu. Resting on Käsmu Bay, this small fishing village is quite central to the park and is full of quaint charm. White picket fences, old fashioned houses and plenty of greenery make Käsmu an idyllic place to gently stroll about. Seriously, the houses here in Käsmu are some of the most adorable I’ve seen anywhere in the Baltic.
Vana-Jüri Rocks
If you wander out of Käsmu and head north you’ll find a gentle coastal trail that heads out to the end of the Käsmu Peninsula. Your path first passes through light forest where you can even spot an old military bunker tucked away among the trees. Soon enough the forest opens out to wetlands brimming with wildflowers and the trail becomes a little less obvious. It’s along this feint path you’ll find the Vana-Jüri Rocks, a small but picturesque collection of boulders in the shallow water off the shore. These rocks, possibly once one single boulder, are evidence of a large glacier that once shaped the region.
Beach at Võsu
There are many more walking trails to explore around the Käsmu Peninsula. However, if you have one day in Lahemaa National Park it’s best to keep moving. A convenient next stop is the pleasant beachside village of Võsu found further round Käsmu Bay. There’s a fresh paved path that connects Käsmu with Võsu, that’s ideal for walking or cycling. Taking this route is definitely slower than the bus but allows you more time to enjoy the forest along the coast and enjoy the bay views.
Viru Bog Walk
Viru Bog lies at the southern edge of the national park and is possibly the most accessible attraction at Lahemaa. When you start out on the trails that lead to it you’re first surrounded by forest. But soon enough the dirt trail is replaced by narrow boardwalks and get to see these wetlands or mires in all their glory.
One thing you really need to see to believe is just how dark the tint of the bog water is. The water at Viru looks almost black its that dark, making it awesome for capturing sky reflections. Believe it or not though, many Estonians come here to swim in the bog pools because the water is actually incredibly pure.
A 5.5km circular trail runs through Viru Bog if you choose to return to your start point. I decided to do the 3.5km walk from one entry point to the other as it worked better for where I wanted to go next. Not too far from the western entrance you’ll find a viewing tower that allows you to get some real perspective on the extent of the wetlands.
Lahemaa Forest Trails
Much of Lahemaa National Park is just forest, with just the occasional sealed road connecting the local villages. What’s more frequent I’ve found are single-lane dirt roads that barely show up on maps. These dirt roads proved to be a useful way to get around Lahemaa National Park, as they’re much quieter than the real roads. If you’re looking for somewhere to go for a nature walk, I can’t think of anywhere better, with the area north of Viru Bog a good place to start.
Ruins of Kolga Manor
Rounding out a busy day of jumping around the national park, we have the village of Kolga. Unlike Võsu, Kolga felt far more residential and less aimed at vacationers. While the village had a nice feel to it, there isn’t too much for tourists to see there. The one notable exception is the large ruins of Kolga Manor, which really stand out given its humble rural surroundings. Inside the manor you’ll find a museum, but it was closed the day I was there.
Lakes and falls
The largest lake in Lahemaa is Lake Kahala (350 ha). The lake is located in a depression among wooded meadows and alvars covered with junipers on the Harju Plateau. This shallow lake (up to 2.8 m) is the former bay, which finally separated from the sea about 7500 years ago. The most remarkable lakes on the coastal plain are Lohja and Käsmu Lakes, both of which are real beauty spots in the woods. They separated from the sea relatively late in the geological sense - about 2000–3000 years ago. The bays of Viinistu Maalaht and Ulglaht on Pärispea peninsula are still connected with the sea when the sea is high.
Among the most beautiful landscapes of Lahemaa are also the valleys of the Valgejõgi and Loobu Rivers, where these rivers fall over the Klint onto the coastal plain. The Valgejõgi forms the Nõmmeveski waterfall, which has eroded a canyon several tens of meters deep below the escarpment. Its left tributary stream, the Vasaristi, falls over the Klint in the most beautiful small cascade in Estonia. The Loobu River falls over the Klint at the Joaveski waterfall.
Viitna kame field and lakes
One of the most attractive places in the southern corner of the Lahemaa National Park is Viitna village and its surroundings. Varying relief, beautiful lakes and valuable spruce and pine forests are perfect for ecotourism. The varying relief is created by a steep-sloped beaded radial esker with a narrow and bending crest and the surrounding kame field.
The eastern slope of the esker falls steeply towards Lake Viitna Pikkjärv, situated in the largest glaciokarst depression of the kame field. The islands of the Lake Viitna Pikkjärv (5.7 m) are also kames in origin. The lake is very beautiful, with clear water; relatively rare aquatic plants grow here, such as Lobelia dortmanna, Isoetes lacustris and others. The lake is a much appreciated location for aquatic sports.
Northeast of Lake Pikkjärv lies Lake Viitna Väikejärv or Linajärv, and tiny Lake Nabudi with its paludified shore is located in the southern part of the kame field. The esker ridge and the surrounding kame field continues south of the valley of the Loobu River. The whole relief complex is known as the Uku - Viitna radial kame field.
Coastal stone fields and sandy beaches
The coast of Lahemaa, similar to the whole North-Estonian coastal plain, is rich in great erratic boulders and stone fields. They were carried here by giant glaciers from Finland and Scandinavia, where such rocks outcrop on the ground. Such boulders and stones offer valuable information about the direction and extent of the movements of the glaciers during the last Ice Age.
Large stone fields can be found near Tapurla village on Juminda peninsula and in the forest and on the beach near Käsmu village. The best-known erratic boulders of Lahemaa are Juminda Majakivi, Jaani-Tooma Suurkivi in Kasispea Village and Ojakivi in Võsu Village.
Folk-tales about the mythic national hero Kalevipoeg are connected with many erratic boulders, so they also have an important role in the cultural history of our country. For example, it is said that Kalevipoeg threw his spear at an enemy, and the spear fell into Odakivi, situated on Loksa beach between the villages of Suurpea and Pärispea.
Sandy beaches are quite rare in Lahemaa; they can be found mostly at the mouths of rivers flowing into the bays. The biggest and best-known beach with a belt of dunes behind it, is located at Võsu Village. Võsu is one of the oldest summer resorts in North Estonia, founded in the 19th century.
Many prominent people from Tallinn, Tartu, St Petersburg and Moscow have spent their holidays there. Strong storms of recent decades and inadequate management have led to a catastrophic retreat and destruction of the beach. Some sandy beaches can also be found near the villages of Loksa and Vergi on Juminda Peninsula. Several former fishing villages, such as Altja and Vainupea, became summer resorts during the Soviet regime.
Flora and fauna
The flora of Lahemaa, just like that of the whole of North Estonia, is quite poor. More than 70% of Lahemaa’s territory is covered with forests. The majority of them are dry boreal, heath and ombrotrophic bog forests, poor in species. Narrow strips of flood plain forest can be found on river banks. On colluvial deposits at the foot of the Klint, a relic broad-leaved forest has been reserved. In the valley of the Altja river there are boreo-nemoral spruce forests. Larger swamp forests can be found under the escarpment in Koljaku and on the banks of the Pudisoo River.
The natural landscapes also include raised bogs, the vegetation of which belongs to a transitional zone between the raised bogs of East Estonian and West Estonian types. The largest raised bogs are Laukasoo, Viru, Vanasilla and Pudisoo, located amidst former coastal ridges. Less than 10% of the area of Lahemaa is covered with meadows, which are rich in vascular plant species. Best-known among rare plant species growing in Lahemaa are Lunaria rediviva, growing in some places on talus under the Klint, and Rubus arcticus, Mulgedium sibiricum, and Lathyrus maritimus.
Lahemaa forests offer good habitats for large mammals, including large predators - permanent communities of bear, wolf and lynx live here. The rivers of Lahemaa and its environs were the home of Mustela luterola, which has recently become extinct in Estonia, Pteromys volans has been found in forests. Numerous bird species inhabit the forests; the sea coast offers resting places for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl, especially for Clangula hyemalis, different species of Melanitta and Gavia.
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