- Rafting adventure on a northern river -
Northern taiga forest stretches along the river banks, rocky islands on the mirror-like surface of the lakes keep their secrets, the Trinity island hides from travelers its old chapel and an ancient graveyard… Join our special tour in the north of Karelia, far away from the civilization, to get waves of impressions rafting down the taiga river Okhta! Our rafts are equipped with outboard motors, so you will have time to enjoy the scenery of the Russian North while passing through the still water of numerous lakes on our way. The itinerary is both interesting for travelers with experience and accessible for adventurous beginners in rafting.
Tour type: rafting (10 persons per raft)
Duration: 9 days / 8 nights
Length: 90 km rafting (still water passed by motor), 140 km by car
Category: river rapids II-IV depending on the season
Group size: max 16 persons
Special requirements: no special training required, good physical shape welcome
Season: 1 July – 15 August
Note: additional program (a visit to Solovetsky monastery or petrogliphs) from the town of Belomorsk is available upon request (extra cost)
Day 1
Arrival by train* in Belomorsk, in the very north of Karelia, late in the evening (23.45 from St Petersburg or 21.40/23.45 from Moscow). Meeting at the railway station, transfer to the tent camp, dinner and overnight.
Day 2
Breakfast. Transfer to Muyezero lake (70 km). Preparation of equipment for the tour or free time to explore the surroundings. Lunch in the open air. Safety briefing, rafting instructions and training - 5 km on the lake Muyezero to visit the Troitsa island with its St. Nikolas Church (built by Old Believers in 1602), surrounded by powerful pine trees. Dinner cooked over fire and overnight in tents.
Day 3
Breakfast. Start your rafting itinerary from Muyezero lake to Yulyaozero lake (22 km) and get the first wave of impressions. Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents
Day 4
Breakfast. Rafting from Yulyaozero lake to a large (30-km long) Lezhevo lake and further via Pebozero lake, past its abandoned village to Voronye lake, the most beautiful lake on Okhta river with a number of rocky islands (34 km).
Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents
Day 5
Breakfast. Enjoy a free day at the lake Voronye (Raven’s Lake). Have walks in the nature along the rocky shores and visit the Island of Spirits with a hundred wooden sculptures and objects, in a way an open-air museum of travelers creativity. A good option is angling.
Lunch, dinner, tourist sauna on the shore, overnight in tents
Day 6
Breakfast. With new energy, continue your rafting adventure that becomes dynamic and rapid-intensive (16 km): Voronye lake – Picheporog rapid – Louna-porog rapid – Khemeg rapid – Kiviristi rapid.
Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents
Day 7
Breakfast. Start 18 km rafting with the most difficult and most scenic 400-m long Kiviristi rapid (with prior examining from the river bank). Go down further through a number of smaller rapids to Tyutterin rapid (III category) to 450 m long Okhta rapid (III cat.) with rocks in the river bed. Instructor can make a decision either to overcome the rapid or bypass it depending on water level and group’s experience.
Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents
Day 8
Breakfast. Today is a short day of rafting: only 6 km. Pass through the Okhta rapid (III category) and go down to the Poduzhemsky hydropower station. Time at leisure. Lunch. Transfer to the town of Belomorsk (120 km). Check-in at the hotel. Dinner in a cafй at your own expense
Day 9
Early breakfast and transfer to the railway station of Belomorsk to leave for St Petersburg (at 7.30 am) or Moscow (at 7 am or 10.45 am)
*Time on train one way: 15 hrs from St Petersburg, 23-25 hrs from Moscow
