Instructions for visitors
  • Try not to leave any traces in the nature.
  • Ask the permission of the owner when being on a marked/fenced private land. Field, plantations and apiaries are not meant for hiking.
  • Use bicycles on roads and paths, use and park motor vehicles (including terrain vehicles and snowmobiles) only on prescribed roads and parking lots.  
  • People are prohibited from being in the nature reserves and the conservation zones of the Põltsamaa bog, Laeva swamp, Laugesoo swamp, Sangla swamp, Soova, Umbusi bogs from 1 February until 30 June and in the conservation zone of the flooded meadow of the Emajõgi River from 15 April until 30 June.
  • You may always pick wild berries, mushrooms and other natural products which are not protected, given that you allowed to be in the picking spot. On a private land, if it is fenced and marked, you need a permission of the possessor of the land to pick natural products.
  • Recreational fishing with trolls is allowed in the waters of the protected area, except in the nature reserve and oxbow lakes, in the conservation zone of the Põltsamaa bog from 1 February until 30 June and in the conservation zone of the flooded meadow of the Emajõgi River from 15 April until 30 June.
  • The water of the protected are may be navigated with vessels without engines or vessels with engines on the Emajõgi River, the Elva (Ulila) and Ilmatsalu Rivers may be navigated with vessels up to 30 km/h and also the Pede and Põltsamaa Rivers may be navigated upon the permission of the manager of the protected area. During high waters, it is prohibited to depart from the water body bed with a vessel with engine.
  • Set up a tent and make a fire only in locations intended and marked for such purposes; if you leave the campfire site, put the fire out. Setting up a tent and making a fire in a yard are only allowed upon the permission of the owner. If the forests have been declared flammable, making an open fire is always prohibited, also on a fire base.
  • Keep your dog on a leash when being in the nature.
  • Organising public events in the conservation zones in locations not intended for such purposes or in the conservation zones in locations intended for such purposes with more than 30 participants and in limited management zones in locations not intended for such purposes is allowed only upon the consent of the Environmental Board, the manager of the protected area.

Read more about moving in the nature from the General Part of the Environmental Code Act and protection rules of the Alam-Pedja nature reserve (in Estonian).

If you see damages caused to nature or to civil engineering works meant for visitation, please report it to the Environmental Inspectorate by calling 1313.

Emergency number is 112.

Photo by Piret Valge