Lake in Belarus with blue water. Natural complex “Blue Lakes” of Narochansky Park

On the northwestern outskirts of Belarus, on the edge of the Narochansky National Park, a group of small but deep and crystal clear lakes called “Blue Lakes” is hidden from mass tourists and “vacationers”.

There is parking at the entrance to the reserve:

We leave the car in the parking lot, cross the road and enter the territory of the reserve:

Admission for adults is paid, but the price is symbolic - something around 10 thousand rubles (just under $1).
Several ecological trails pass through the territory of the reserve. We choose the purple route (4 km), following which you can go around and explore three lakes - Mertvoe, Glublya and Glubelka:

We go along the path:

The first interesting thing we come across on the way is the Stracha River:

A short stop along the way:

From the wooden deck we will look again at the Stracha flowing along the bottom of the ravine:

All significant objects in the reserve are marked with signs or signs:

There are also arbors and figures of people and animals carved from wood:

And we turn to Dead Lake:

Dead Lake:

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Lake Dead is one of the smallest lakes in the reserve. It is also the most mysterious. According to some reports, there are accumulations of hydrogen sulfide under the lake, which is why there is practically no life in the lake.

Having looked at Lake Mertvoe again, we return to the path and soon come to the next lake.
Lake Glublya:

We decided to swim in this lake. The water was very nice! Crystal clear, odorless. And a perfect tight bottom. How not to take a swim?

Glublya left a very pleasant and refreshing impression. After swimming and drying off, we went out onto the path again and a few minutes later came to Lake Glubelka:

It's good to walk in the reserve! The air is clean - you can even roll it into a jar, open it and breathe in Minsk. Naturally, there are mosquitoes in the forest, but we didn’t come across them in large numbers. They didn't bother me at all.
After Glubelka, our path leads us somewhere even further, but in the opposite direction, in a roundabout way.
We climb a small hill and get to the observation deck. This is not even a platform, but a wooden tower 5-7 meters high. It sways a little, I think it’s unsafe to climb on it in a large group - the structure may not hold up and collapse. From the tower, apparently, earlier (30-40 years ago) there was a magnificent view of the lakes and in particular Lake Glubelka. But now everything is overgrown with trees, only a piece of Glubelka is visible:

We didn’t notice any animals wanting to feed. They probably come at night.
Meanwhile, we are approaching the exit from the reserve:

In conclusion, I would like to say that in our opinion, the Blue Lakes are the pearl of Belarus, a true national treasure.
These are not “pop” reservoirs like Naroch, Ptich or the Minsk Sea, but real Belarusian lakes. Not everyone will come here - and thank God! It’s good that these places are quite remote from the capital and large settlements. And it’s good that this is a nature reserve where you can’t light fires, litter, disturb peace and order, or drive a car. The lack of infrastructure makes this place wonderful. Here is real pristine Belarusian nature, as it really is.

In Belarus there is a group of lakes that received an eloquent name - Blue Lakes.

Blue lakes are located in the Minsk and Vitebsk regions, in the Myadel and Postavy districts, respectively. The lakes have other names: Bolduc lakes. In Belarusian their names look like this: Blakitny, or Baldutsky Azers.

The Blue Lakes group includes the following bodies of water

• Lake Bolduc
• lake Bolduchitsa
• Big Boltik Lake
• Lake Glubelka
• Lake Glublya
• Lake Glukhoe
• Lake Ilginia
• Lake Imsharets
• Lake Karasik
• Lake Maly Boltik
• Lake Dead
• Lake Okunek
• Lake Yachmenek

Where are the Blue Lakes of Belarus located?

Blue Lakes on the map

The Blue Lakes group of lakes is located on the territory of the Narochansky National Park.

If you decide to go on vacation to the shores of the Blue Lakes, keep in mind that most of them are recognized as a protected area. This means that traveling in such a territory is possible only along certain ecological routes.

Fishing is also not allowed on all lakes. You can relax with a fishing rod on lakes such as Bolduc, this is the largest lake from the Blue lakes, Glublya and Glukhoe.

An ecological trail with a length of over 3.5 kilometers has been created for tourists on the territory of Belarus and the popular natural complex “Blue Lakes”. The trail, which is called a “journey into nature,” takes about four hours to walk. But such a waste of time is definitely justified. Travelers walking along the trail see picturesque pictures of Belarusian nature. Along the road there are three lakes from the Blue Lakes group - lakes Glublya, Glubelka and Mortvoye, as well as the floodplain of the Stracha River.

Tourism on the largest lake in Belarus began to develop in the first half of the twentieth century, when Polish industrialists built several villas, a restaurant, a yacht club and a marina for sailing boats on the western shore of Naroch. Today Naroch is one of the most famous lake resorts in the country. The nearby Blue Lakes are not inferior to Naroch in popularity, and in the summer season a large flow of tourists flocks there. Of course, both Naroch and Blue Lakes deserve separate steps on the pedestal. However, many tourists manage to combine holidays on these lakes, which allowed us, in turn, to unite them with one story.

Lake Naroch is shrouded in legends. The legends that reveal its origin include love, deceit, joy, and sadness. According to one version, the name of the lake has Baltic roots and is translated as “mermaid”. This is the largest lake in Belarus: its area is 80 square kilometers, and along the coastline you can take a 41-kilometer walk. The maximum depth of the lake reaches 25 meters, and the average - up to 9. Naroch has low, sandy and sandy-pebble shores, which makes them convenient for relaxation. 17 streams carry their waters to Naroch; a river of the same name flows out of the lake and flows into Viliya. In summer, the water here warms up to 19 degrees, and the swimming season lasts almost a hundred days a year. On the banks of Naroch there is the resort village of Naroch, where sanatoriums, boarding houses, and holiday homes are located. Each health resort, and there are 13 of them, has its own beach, open to all tourists. The largest beach strip is near the Urliki beach and park area. All beaches have rental points for boats, catamarans, water skis, and bicycles. If you wish, you can take a trip on boats that can accommodate from 4 to 6 people. A minibus runs daily around the resort town, the route of which includes four stops. A ticket for a sightseeing tour costs 1,100 rubles. Near the resort town there are two paid parking lots where you can leave your car for a fee of 3,300 rubles per day.

National Park "Narochansky"

Lake Naroch

Speaking about Naroch, it is impossible to omit the problem that appeared on the lake about 20 years ago. For some tourists, swimming in the lake causes “swimmer's itch,” or cercariasis. The fact is that some waterfowl and mollusks on Naroch are affected by cercariae. They penetrate a person’s skin during bathing, and after half an hour the skin turns red, burning and itching appear. The larvae live for several hours, then die, but leave behind a rash and blisters. An infected person feels weak and may have a fever. Full recovery occurs in 7-10 days. Cercariae reproduce at water temperatures of 19-20 degrees and in shallow water. “The problem of cercariasis exists in approximately 500 bodies of water in Belarus,” said Valery Lyushtyk, deputy for scientific work of the general director of the Narochansky National Park. “In Naroch, it is caused by the characteristics of the lake - there is a large shallow zone and the water warms up quickly. To avoid infection, we advise vacationers should swim in the designated areas, and after swimming, be sure to take a shower.” For this purpose, shower cabins are installed on the Naroch beaches, and you can enter the water from floating platforms more than a hundred meters long, of which there are four on the lake. In addition, vacationers are given booklets with recommendations on how to avoid infection. By the way, experts note that people are less likely to go to the doctor with symptoms of cercariasis: if earlier the number of victims reached 600, in recent years “swimmer’s itch” has bothered just over a hundred people. Meanwhile, preventive work is underway on the banks of Naroch: beaches and shallow waters are being cleaned, and boards have been placed with a convincing request not to feed the birds. True, as the staff of the national park note with regret, the negative particle “not” periodically disappears from the shield.

Not far from Naroch there is a natural complex “Blue Lakes”, the basis of which is the Bolduk group of lakes. Bolduc is one of the largest lakes in this region and the fifth deepest in Belarus. Its name has Baltic roots and is translated as “bottomless”. In addition to it, the group includes 10 more lakes: Glublya, Glubelka, Mertvoe, Yachmenek, Karasik, Kueli, Bolduchitsa, Imsharets, Ilginiya, Glukhoe. The lakes are surrounded by high hills covered with pine and spruce forests.

Lakes Glublya and Glubelka

Lake Dead

At the foot of the hills flows the Stracha River - the right tributary of the Viliya, originating from Lake Malye Shvakshty. Beavers live in the tributaries and streams that flow into the Stracha - more than 150 of them live in the national park.

Such streams also flow into Stracha

Water trips along Stracha can be both the most interesting and difficult

This is how fabulous Stracha looks in winter

Naroch and Blue Lakes are part of the Narochansky National Park. You can relax on its territory only in designated areas. In addition, most of the Blue Lakes are a protected area, and travel through it is possible only along designated ecological routes. For nature lovers, the complex has 2 tourist sites - “Bolduk” and “Melnitsa” and five places for recreation. Fishing is not allowed on all lakes, but Naroch, Bolduk, Glublya and Glukhoe are open for recreational fishing. Various excursion routes have been developed in the National Park, which include the main attractions of the Naroch region. Of course, its main wealth is in the lakes - the lakes Bolshie Shvakshty, Myadel, Beloye, Rossokhi, Lotviny, Volchino, Svir and others are beautiful in their own way. The duration of excursions, depending on the route, ranges from 2 to 12 hours.

Lake Beloe

How to get there: You can get from Minsk to Naroch by two routes. P28 passes through Zaslavl, Molodechno, Vileika: this road is rich in attractions and can turn into a kind of excursion route. The P58 route leads through the Vileika Reservoir and Ilya: it passes through picturesque places, past an attractive tourist site - Budslav. Every day, buses and minibuses depart from the Moscow bus station to the resort village of Naroch.

Where to stay: 16 equipped tourist sites have been prepared for the season in the Narochansky National Park. They have shelters, tables, fire pits and toilets. Car parking is permitted near the parking lots. Accommodation in the parking lot of the national park costs 3000-3500 rubles per day. In addition, on the territory of the park there is a recreation center "Pronki" for 80 people and 4 guest houses, each with a capacity of 4-6 people. A budget option for overnight accommodation is offered by the Naroch camping site, located on the banks of the Naroch. 2-3-bed economy class rooms in houses for 15 and 40 people will cost 19-21 thousand Belarusian rubles. Accommodation and tourist services are offered by rural estates in the villages of Pasynki, Cherevki, Naroch, Sobolevshchina, Leshchinsk, Zabolotye, Shikovichi, Azarki Pudovinka.

Attractions: Holidays on the lakes can be combined with visiting attractions, of which there are many in the Naroch region. In Myadel, it is worth seeing the Church of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in the Baroque style, built in 1754. In the village of Naroch, one of the oldest settlements in this region, there is a neo-Gothic church of St. Andrew and a wooden belfry standing nearby. In Konstantinovo, the 19th century Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin Mary is worthy of attention. And in Olshevo it is interesting to look at the ruins of the Khominsky estate and the estate park, which is considered a monument to the landscape art of Belarus. In the urban village of Svir there is a settlement where the castle of Prince Dovmont stood in the 13th century, and in the center of the village there is the Church of St. Nicholas. In the village of Zasvir, the Trinity Church of the Carmelites has been preserved. In Shemetovshchina you can walk through the old manor park, the last owners of which were the Skirmunts. On an artificially erected hill in the park there is a church and a belfry. By the way, the burials of the Skirmunts are preserved in the crypt of the church. In the village of Uzla, located on the border of the Vileika and Myadel districts, do not miss the Assumption Church, built in the 1820s. In Knyaginin you can see an estate from the second half of the 19th century, which now houses a school. The Orthodox Trinity Church is also worth a visit in this village. In Krivichy there is the Church of St. Andrew and the Church of the Holy Trinity.

What's unusual here: One of the most interesting offers for tourists is an excursion along the ecological trail of the Blue Lakes natural complex, which is also called a “journey into nature.” The length of the trail is almost four kilometers, and the journey along it takes about 4 hours. There is a guarded parking lot at the beginning of the route. On the ecological trail, tourists will see the floodplain of the Stracha River, lakes Glublya, Glubelka and Mertvoe. From the height of the Bald Mountain hill you will enjoy a beautiful view of the forest and two lakes hidden in it. There are signs and information stands along the entire trail. You can go along the ecological trail on your own, or with a guide. Entrance to the territory of the natural complex costs 2 thousand. The ticket can be purchased directly at the car park. An excursion as part of an organized group with a guide will cost about 123 thousand.

On the ecological trail in the Blue Lakes natural complex

The Stracha River is good at any time of the year

Behind these doors is Lake Glubelka

The photographer doesn’t care what kind of mushrooms it is, as long as it’s beautiful

Budslav is considered one of the most famous attractions of the Naroch region. Thousands of pilgrims visit the Budslau Church of the 18th century, which houses the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. During the Budslav fest, which takes place on July 1-2, Budslav presents a breathtaking spectacle - hundreds of candles are lit during the festive prayer in the evening. These days, not only pilgrims, but also ordinary tourists come to the famous village.

The estates of the Myadel region can be viewed at www. tio. by.

Blue-eyed Belarus never ceases to amaze even the Belarusians themselves with its beauty. There are about 11 thousand lakes in the country, and it is not surprising that many beautiful places are so little known.

One of the most beautiful lake groups in Belarus is the Blue Lakes.

Blue lakes are located in the Myadel district of the Minsk region, as well as in the Postavy region of the Vitebsk region. The lakes are fed by a tributary of the Viliya River, the Stracha River.

Thanks to the numerous unique plants growing around the lakes, a landscape reserve of republican significance “Blue Lakes” was created here in 1972.

The group of lakes includes 11 reservoirs, the largest of which is Lake Bolduc, which is the fifth deepest in Belarus.

In addition to interesting flora, you can also find a variety of fauna here. About 150 beavers live on the territory of the reserve.

On some of the lakes it is also possible: Bolduc, Glublya and Glukhoe.

Where to stay

The Blue Lakes are located on the territory of Narochanskoye, which is why not the entire territory of the lakes protected area is accessible to the public. Fortunately, on the territory of the reserve there are 2 tourist camps “Bolduk” and “Melnitsa”, near the reserve, in the village of Grumbienty, there is an agro-tourist center “Blue Lakes”, and numerous hotels and recreation centers are located near Lake Naroch, located nearby.

How to get to Blue Lakes

It is quite easy to get to the Blue Lakes by car from Minsk, following the highway P28 and then P95. The journey will take about 2-2.5 hours

From Vitebsk the journey is a little longer, about 3.5 hours. Follow this route: highway P20 –> P114 –> P113 –> P45 to Narochansky National Park.

Direct buses and trains do not go there, but you can go to the Blue Lakes as part of an excursion group from Minsk and.

This was our roundup of everything you need to know about Blue Lakes. Go there for a weekend and enjoy the pristine nature. Read also about. Have a nice rest!