RMK Penijõe-Aegviidu-Kauksi Hiking Route
Penijõe-Aegviidu-Kauksi matkatee
RMK's 613 km route across northern Estonia, from the flood meadows of Matsalu to the north shore of Lake Peipus.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Penijõe manor, Matsalu National Park
- Ends in
- Kauksi, Lake Peipus
- Length
- 613 km
- On foot
- ≈ 25–31 days
- Countries
Estonia
About the trail
The State Forest Management Centre (RMK) opened this route in 2018, the centenary year of the Republic of Estonia. It begins at Penijõe manor in Matsalu National Park, beside the Kasari river flood meadows where migrating birds stop in spring and autumn, and ends at Kauksi on the northern shore of Lake Peipus.
Heading east, the trail passes Varbola stronghold, crosses the Neeruti hills and the Paunküla eskers, and follows the limestone klint of the northern coast at Ontika and Valaste. In Ida-Viru County it goes by the oil-shale industrial landscapes of Kiviõli and Püssi, then turns south through the Udria reserve, the Kurtna lakes, Agusalu and the forests of Alutaguse National Park.
RMK divides the route into five sections of 84 to 156 km and marks it with white-yellow-white paint stripes. Campsites at Varbola, Nikerjärve, Eesjärve, Konsu, Uusküla and Kauksi, the Seljandiku forest hut and many campfire sites make it possible to walk the whole way self-sufficiently.
No source gives the days on foot, so they are worked out from the length at 20–25 km a day.