Yelnya Bog

Yelnya covers around two hundred square kilometres of raised bog in the far north of Belarus, a landscape of sphagnum, dwarf pine, cotton grass and more than a hundred lakes lying on the mire surface, formed over nine thousand years and among the largest bogs of its kind in Europe, designated a Ramsar site. A boardwalk of around one and a half kilometres runs out onto the bog from the access point with an observation tower. Its main event is autumn: cranes gather here in very large numbers before migration, with counts running into the thousands roosting on the mire, and dawn and dusk in September and October are when they move. Cranberries ripen at the same time.

What you actually see

• The open mire - the sphagnum and dwarf pine surface with its lakes.
• Crane roosts - the thousands of birds gathering in autumn.
• The boardwalk and tower - the route out onto the bog.
• Cranberries - the autumn crop on the mire surface.

When to go

September and October for the crane gatherings, at dawn and dusk, and for the cranberry harvest and autumn colour. May to August for the bog flora. Winter walking is possible on frozen ground.

Honest expectations

The boardwalk is short relative to the size of the bog. Crane numbers vary year to year and the birds are distant. Leaving the boardwalk onto the mire is dangerous and not permitted. Facilities are minimal and Miory is remote.

Nearby

Miory lies south; the Braslav lakes are west.