Vodlozersky National Park - Location and Geography

Location and Geography

The two parts of the National Park — the southern part, around Lake Vodlozero, and the northern part, in the river valley of the Ileksa — are characterized by different climate. The northern part has the climate typical for the northern taiga, with long and cold winters (the minimum temperature recorded in the park was −45 °C (−49 °F)). The climate of the southern part is more mild.

The northern part is hilly, with the hills up to 20 metres (66 ft) high. In the northern part, there is Vetreny Poyas Ridge (Russian: Кряж Ветряный Пояс, literally trabslated as The Windy Belt)/ The southern part is almost flat.

There are many lakes in the park. By far the biggest one is Lake Vodlozero, however, there are also lakes in the Ileksa river basin, including Lake Monastyrskoye, Lake Nelmozero, Lake Luzskoye. Swamps cover about 40% of the area of the park.

Almost the whole area of the part is covered by woods. Of these, 53.5% are spruce forests, 44.1% are pine forests, and about 2% are birch (Betula pubescens and Betula pendula) and aspen forests.