Endla Nature Reserve
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| Endla Nature Reserve |
The nature reserve of 10,161 hectares was formed to preserve the karsts of the southern slope of Pandivere Highlands and the bogs and bogs islands characteristic of the central and eastern part of Estonia.
Endla Nature Reserve also includes marked hiking trails, which provide the opportunity to get to know the forests, wooded meadows, and bogs, observe birds, and learn about the local plants. The tracks overlap to a certain extent and visitors can choose a track of their abilities:
Lake Endla trail – 8 km.
Lake Männikjärv trail – 2.2 km.
Lake Männikjärv bog study trail – 7.3 km.
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| Endla raba |
About 10 000 years ago when the mainland ice receded Great-Endla Lake covered almost 3500 hectares of the Upland slopes. As the climate became warmer, swamps began to form in the lowest parts of the lakes. The 6 lakes of the nature reserve – Endla, Sinijärv, Männikjärv, Tulijärv, Kaasikjärv and Sinilaugas – are relict lakes of the Great-Endla Lake.
Most of the swamps here are now in the bog stage. There are less fens and transitional bogs. The bogs are separated from each other by rivers, lakes, forests and bog islands. As is typical to the East Estonia, the middle part of the bogs is more convex and the pools and hollows surround it in arc-like shape.
