Ladoga Skerries National Park

The northern shore of Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe, is a skerry coast: the granite of the Baltic shield, scoured by ice and then drowned, leaving hundreds of rocky islands, narrow sounds, cliffs dropping straight into deep water and pine growing out of bare rock. It looks like the Finnish and Swedish archipelagos because it is the same geology. The national park was declared in 2017, covering about a hundred and twenty thousand hectares of water and islands. Kayaking and boating are how it is properly seen, with routes between islands, camping on rock, and steep cliffs at Koionsaari and elsewhere. Ringed seals live in the lake, a freshwater subspecies isolated since the ice retreated. Sortavala is the base and the boats to Valaam monastery leave from there. Ladoga generates real waves and conditions change fast, which is the risk on a lake this size.

History

The Karelian Research Centre first proposed a national park on the northern shore of Ladoga in the late 1980s, but the project stalled for decades, and the park was officially created in 2017 (Wikipedia, Ladoga Skerries National Park).

What's there

• The skerries - hundreds of granite islands and sounds on the Baltic shield.
• The cliffs - rock faces dropping into deep water.
• The ringed seals - a freshwater subspecies isolated in the lake since the ice.
• The 2017 park - about a hundred and twenty thousand hectares of water and islands.

When to go

June to September for boats and kayaks. A day for a boat trip, up to a week for a kayak route. Ice closes it in winter.

What to expect

Ladoga is a large lake and makes waves - kayaking here needs experience and weather judgement. Mosquitoes on the islands are severe. Camping is on bare rock with no facilities. Boat operators vary in quality.

Nearby

Sortavala is the base; Ruskeala is inland and Valaam is out on the lake.

Key facts