2019

Forest Trail Invites Everyone Interested to go Hiking from Latvia to Estonia

Forest has long been a source for our inner strength, nourishing, inspiring and calming us. Forest is also a place for active recreation, hiking and spending time in nature. JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) together with its partners from Latvia and Estonia, is launching a new long-distance hiking route that will lead from Riga to Tallinn through Gauja National Park, Northern Gauja and Veclaicene Protected Landscape Areas, Setos land in Estonia, along Lake Peipus and the north Estonian sea coast. The project is scheduled to be completed by June 2021.

The nature path will be appreciated by active tourists, families with children, nature watchers, history enthusiasts, as well as local and foreign tourists. It can be used in different seasons - in spring when the shores of the River Gauja are in blossoms, in summer for lovely swims in Lake Peipus and northern Estonia sea and in autumn when the banks of the river valley sparkle in autumn leaf gold. The route in Estonia will include Lahemaa National Park and the coastline of northern Estonia, which is the land of the most spectacular rocks, waterfalls and cliffs in the Baltic countries.

The Forest Trail route will be marked along its length with information boards and signs, and a smartphone version of the trail will be developed to make it an attractive tourist product for both foreign and local tourists. The route, which is approximately 1050 kilometres long, will be divided into 50 separate day-long sections of approximately 20 kilometres per day. The trail will include all the typical forest types and wildlife elements - plants, animals mushrooms, etc.

In order to introduce the route to the widest possible audience, a guide has been created in Latvian, Estonian,  English, German and Russian. It is also planned to issue a tourist map, provide information to foreign tour operators, participate in international tourism exhibitions and fairs. There will also be a website where the new route can be viewed both in full length and in one-day sections.

Currently, the development of the route can be followed on  Facebook.com/meztaka.

The Forest Trail is being developed within the framework of the cross-border hiking trail project “Forest Trail”. The project is implemented by 10 partners: Nature Protection Board, JSC “Latvia's State Forests”, Vidzeme Planning Region, Riga Planning Region, Estonian Rural Tourism Organization (MTÜ Eesti Maaturism), NGO Peipsimaa Turism, Setomaa Turism, MTU Okokuller - Lahemaa National Park, Pohja-Eesti Turism and Rural Tourism Association “Lauku ceļotājs” as the lead partner of the project.