Great Baikal Trail - All information about the project!

The idea to create a hiking trail around Lake Baikal is neither new nor does it lack role models. About 30 years ago, Oleg Kirillovich was one of the first to contemplate the idea. Oleg belongs to a small minority of people who have hiked around Lake Baikal without any existing pathways, and one who knows the banks of Lake Baikal probably better than anyone. Having broadened his knowledge over several decades, he is one of the masterminds today when it comes to the creation of the Great Baikal Trail.

However, much water was to flow in Lake Baikal before a determined group would pick up the idea again in 1998 and start to search for allies for the construction of the Great Baikal Trail. The goal of all those involved was - and still is - to be able to better explore and observe the banks of Lake Baikal through the help of the Great Baikal Trail, to open up economic opportunities in the field of ‘soft tourism’ for the villages scattered near the banks, and also to make a beautiful part of nature accessible to hikers, students and children, while at the same time handing over to them the responsibility that goes along with the conservation of this extraordinary landscape.

Even though the Great Baikal Trail cannot look back on a history of more than 70 years like the US Appalachian Trail can do, it is exactly those hiking trails in the USA, New Zealand or Europe that can show what great potential - ecologically and economically speaking - lies in this project.

However, the creation of a network of connected hiking trails with a total length of 1800 km (more than 1100 miles) cannot be done overnight and needs wide support, even outside of Russia. Therefore, we would like to ask you to assist this project either financially or as a volunteer, and at the same time, invite you to explore the first parts of the trail on your own.

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