Ivanyi Pereleski Ecological Trail

How to get there: turn off the Okulovka/Valday highway toward Priozyorny and drive about 3.5 km to Lake Ivanye, where the route begins. Road signs and information boards are hidden behind trees; the landmark is a pair of concrete pyramid-shaped barriers about half a meter high on the right side of the road. The trail is 7 km from Valday and focuses on the wildlife of Valday National Park, passing through mixed coniferous-broadleaf forest and along the lake. Visitors will find information boards, small landscape structures, fishing piers, seasonal mushrooms and berries, and usually few crowds. Trailhead coordinates: 58.056596° 33.190173. Lake Ivanye has low transparency and yellow or brown water because of humic substances; it is weakly mineralized and low in oxygen, surrounded by birch, aspen, spruce and pine. The lake is fed by rain and snowmelt and loses water mainly through evaporation. Approximate costs: 200 RUB for entry to Valdaysky National Park; guided service for a group of up to 5 people — 1,500 RUB per group; 5 to 20 people — 250 RUB per person; more than 20 people — 200 RUB per person. The trail is circular. Season: May-October.