Meshchera National Park is located east of the city of Gus-Khrustalny, 90 km south of Vladimir. This is a world of impenetrable swamps, forests, lakes and rivers, where several ecological trails have been created. Here you can see the beauty of the Russian nature of the middle zone. The nature protection in the park allows to preserve the ecosystem of the swampy lowlands.
The Meshchera National Park in the Vladimir region was established in 1992. Its area reaches more than 120 thousand hectares. In the same year, another National Park, Meshchersky, was created in the north of the Ryazan region. However, the ecosystem of these two parks is a single whole, so in 2016 they were united, and now it is called "Meshchera".
The Meshchera lowland is an extensive wooded lowland on the territory of the Vladimir, Ryazan and Moscow regions. Its total area is 210 by 190 kilometers. Since ancient times, the Meshchera people, who belonged to the Fino-Ugor tribe, lived here.
During the Middle Ages, roads were only between the largest cities. By the 14th century, an extensive network of roads had been created. They were laid even in hard-to-reach places. The old Ryazan road connecting Vladimir and Ryazan passed through the Meshchra lands. The length of this road was 75 kilometers, and 30 kilometers between the Pol and Buzha rivers passed in an absolutely desolated area among swamps and forests.
It is not difficult to imagine how much people were afraid to travel along this road. Fairy tales about goblins and mermen seemed to be a reality in these places. The "Robber Nightingale" from folklore also lived in these places on the road near Murom. In general, the Meshchera National Park is of interest to nature lovers and Russian fairy tales.
The old Ryazan road, skirting the most swampy areas, crossed the Pol River in four places. The piles of one of the wooden bridges have been preserved near the village of Erlex. There are two of the easiest ecological trails that are made in the Meshchera National Park.
The village of Erlex is located 20 kilometers west of the town of Gus-Khrustalny. You can come here by the road laid to the village of Urshelsky. About 10 kilometers of this road passes through the Gusevsky swamp. The road among the swamp is quite narrow and there is no convenient parking on the roadsides.
The ecological trial "Road to the Temple" stretches from the auto road to the village of Erlex, where the Church of the Holy Trinity was built in 1825. Now it seems strange that such a large church was built among the swamps, but at the beginning of the 19th century, the village of Erlex was one of the main postal stations on the busy Ryazan Road. The length of the ecological trail to the temple is 1.5 km.
The second trial starts 800 meters from the turnoff to the village of Erlex and is called "Along the ancient Ryazan Road". On this trail you will come to the Pol River, where the piles of the old bridge have been preserved. The river overflows here into a small lake, and in the distance, you can see the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Erlex. Then you can walk through the forest along the riverbed of the Pol.
The third ecological trail is located in the village of Tasinsky. It starts near the Russian Courtyard Museum and most of the trail is equipped with wooden flooring. This is a 3 km long circular route that runs through the forest. Wooden sculptures of Russian folklore characters are installed along the way.
The fourth ecological trail is the most difficult to access. It is called "Journey into the world of the Meshchera swamps". Its length is 6.5 kilometers. To get on this trail, you need to park at the beginning of the trail "Along the ancient Ryazan road", cross the road and go south for several hundred meters. This trail passes through the Sergeyevo swamp.
