Oandu old-growth forest nature trail (4.7 km)

Oandu old-growth forest nature trail runs through a fascinating and mystical primeval forest. There are fallen trees everywhere, and the decaying trunks are home to rare fungi, lichens, mosses, and insects. In place of the fallen old trees, new deciduous brush or young spruces start growing. At the nature trail, you can see the footprints of elks, wild boar, bears, lynxes and many other animals and birds, or traces of their activity; and sometimes you may even be lucky to see some of the wild animals or birds.
The forest is different here on every hill, the marshes are different in every hollow. From the light-filled, dry pine forest the path goes down the Koljaku-Oandu escarpment into the moist drained peatland forest, where pure springs flow and where, between the sand dunes of the one-time coastline, spruce, aspen and common alder stands grow, all several human generations old. On higher slopes one can find ancient pines whose bark is thick and scaly.
We recommend starting the trail with the exhibition “Path to the Virgin Forest” in Oandu Visitor Centre. Here you can take a look at the life cycle in an old-growth forest, and what or who you can meet on the trail.