Hiking trails and sights

HARILAIU HIKING TRAIL

  • Start and finish: Harilaiu rest area with a parking lot
  • Length:
    • 11 km long trail around the peninsula
    • 9 km long trail, Harilaiu rest area - Kiipsaare Lighthouse - Harilaiu rest area
    • 6 km long trail, Harilaiu rest area - Harilaiu campsite - Harilaiu rest area
  • Designation: direction indicators, marked poles
  • Key words: hiking, bird watching, seal watching, open dune landscape, coastal community, Kiipsaare Lighthouse, Laialepa Bay
  • Manager: State Forest Management Centre
  • Nota Bene!
    • On the Harilaiu Peninsula, it is prohibited to drive motor vehicles past the parking lot at the Harilaiu rest area (watch for markings!), except for scientific fieldwork, monitoring, rescue and protection works, in order to avoid damaging the soil of valuable habitats.
    • Recreational fishing is allowed on the Laialepa Bay, except for fishing with a net and longline. It is prohibited to drive floating vessels on the Laialepa Bay.

Harilaiu hiking trail offers an opportunity to get acquainted with a diverse coastal nature. It is a great bird and seal watching area. There is a campsite by the hiking trail. Besides walking on the trail, it is possible to walk along the coast.

KÄKISILMA-VILSANDI HIKING TRAIL

  • Start and finish: Käkisilma campsite with a parking lot
  • Length:
  • Distances:
    • 5.5 km, Väike-Vilsandi rest area - the village of Vilsandi Lighthouse
    • 3.5 km, Väike-Vilsandi rest area - Vilsandi observation tower
    • 4 km, Väike-Vilsandi rest area - Vikati information site and campfire site
  • Designation: direction indicators, marked poles
  • Key words: hiking, bird watching, islets, Käkisilma Strait
  • Manager: State Forest Management Centre
  • Nota Bene! More detailed information is available at Vilsandi National Park Visitor Centre (info.vilsandi@rmk.ee; +372 454 6880)

Käkisilma-Vilsandi hiking trail runs through the sea and over smaller inhabited islets to the island of Väike-Vilsandi. The trail is marked, usable with shallow and warm seawater if the current is not too strong in Käkisilma Strait. It is possible to park your vehicle in the parking lot of Käkisilma campsite.

VILSANDI HIKING TRAIL

  • Start and finish: Vilsandi observation tower
  • Length:
    • 8 km (northern trail)
    • 6 km (western trail)
  • Distances:
    • 1.5–2 km, Vikati information site - campfire site/port - Vilsandi observation tower
    • 2 km, Vilsandi observation tower - the village of Vilsandi Lighthouse
  • Designation: direction indicators, marked poles, information boards
  • Key words: hiking, bird watching, coastal community, Vaika islands, Vilsandi Lighthouse, Vilsandi Rescue Station, Vesiloo Island, integrated environmental monitoring spot
  • Manager: State Forest Management Centre
  • Nota Bene! Observe your movements on the territory of the village of Vilsandi Lighthouse. The land and buildings around the lighthouse are privately owned. We ask you to respect the privacy of the residents!

Vilsandi hiking trail (6 and 8 km) begins in the centre of the island at Vilsandi observation tower. The trail has two parts, it is possible to hike in the western and northern direction. Heading north (8 km), there is a biology station and an integrated environmental monitoring spot on the trail and it is possible to go further to Vesiloo Island by walking through water. Heading west (6 km), the trail leads you to Kulpri swimming spot and campsite with a sandy beach in the southwestern part of the island and from there to the village of Vilsandi Lighthouse to alvar grasslands over the cliff of Lammaste and through the forest to the observation tower.

Information brochures of Vilsandi National Park