Valdai National Park is located on the territory of the Novgorod region. It stretches in a narrow strip from north to south, and its territory is 1.5 thousand square kilometers. There is a very beautiful nature of the Russian central strip, many places for fishing and hiking.
Valdai National Park was established in 1990 to preserve the unique lake and forest ecosystem of the Valdai upland. Its relief was formed during the Last Glacial Epoch, which ended 20 thousand years ago. There are several names of this epoch in Russia, and one of them is the Valdai Glaciation. This name is due to that the ice covered the entire European part of Russia, and the border of the ice sheet stopped at the Valdai upland.
All glaciers of that era completely melted about 10 thousand years ago. The depressions left in place of their moraines were flooded and lakes appeared. This is how the ecosystem of this region was formed. Three large lakes were formed on the Valdai Upland: Seliger, Valdai and Velye, as well as more than 200 small lakes. All of them have a rugged coastline typical of Karelia, but rarely found in central Russia.
Valdai Lake can be called one of the most beautiful, but it is not the largest in the national park. It is located in the central part of the park. The city of Valdai is located on its shore. Tourists coming to Valdai National Park usually stay in Valdai or its surroundings. This is most convenient for traveling along the ecological trails of the park and its lakes.
One of the longest hiking trails in Russia has been created in the Valdai National Park: The Great Valdai Trail. The length of the trail is 59 kilometers, and it is estimated for a 5-day hiking trip with overnight stays in tents at equipped camp places. During the hike, tourists can see various ecosystems: lakes and rivers, meadows, swamps, coniferous and mixed forests.
There are 5 equipped camp areas throughout the trail where tourists can set up tents and stay overnight. The most famous attraction on the trail is Mount Ryzhokha and the tower on its top. It is quite difficult to call Ryzhokha a mountain. This is an upland in the area of a former glacier. Its height is 296 meters above sea level. A 25-meter tower for tourists has been built on the top. Everyone can climb it to see the beauty of the forests and lakes of the Valdai National Park.
In addition to the Great Valdai Trail, there are three small hiking trails in the National Park, laid in picturesque places of the park. These trails are called: Ivanie Woods, Beaver Trail and Forest Secrets. Their length are not more than 2 kilometers.
The Ivanie Woods trail is laid along the shore of Lake Ivanie. There you will see a very picturesque lake, coniferous and deciduous forests. The Forest Secrets trail is laid near Sokolovsky Springs and further along the Kraskovsky swamp. Here you can see the depressions and elevations left by the moraines of the glacier. The Beaver trail is laid around a small swamp near the Valdayka River.
Hotels and guest houses have been built on the shores of many lakes in the Valdai National Park. Tourists can stay there in nature, go fishing, and walk around the surroundings. There are many guest houses and places for camping with tents on Lake Velje. There are also hotels on other lakes, and there are very high-level hotels in the vicinity of Valdai.
One of the large arms of Lake Seliger enters the southern part of the Valdai National Park. The main part of this famous lake is located in the Tver region and is not part of the national park. Thousands of tourists come to Seliger every year to relax and fish. As for its tourist potential, Lake Seliger is on the same level to the Valdai National Park.
