The project idea was born through joint work with the Zabaikalsky National Park and Gerry Cook of Pacific Environment*. We knew that many years ago, hunters and fisherman from the village of Barguzin used to cross the Barguzin mountain range to get to Baikal. We decided to retrace the route ourselves. Gerry give financial support for conducting the first expedition, and Jennifer Daniels and Rick Fox helped in the preparation*. In September 1995, we started our first expedition—and decided it was a route worth developing for eco-tourism. In 1996 during our second expedition, we picked up trash from the area, renovated old camping areas and created new ones. Upon our return, we wrote up a description of the trail and put together a plan for further cooperation with the Zabaikalsky National Park. Since then the work on the trail has become an integral part of our organization’s activities.

In 1997, we put marking on the trails and thought about how to make walking on the trail more interesting. We decided to do information boards about everything interesting on the trail: about lingonberries and blueberries, moss and lichens, ants and bears, coniferous forest, and what to do to avoid forest fires. Our youth volunteers designed and created the boards themselves, and on our next expedition we posted them all along the trail.

The next year, we expanded our work on the trail: we removed obstruction on the trail, put in planks for crossing streams, built a bridge across the Dubari River, equipped camping sites, and put together a brochure on the trail. We were helped by the Ust-Barguzin high school, students from various univerisites, and parents and friends of LAT members.

The trail has now become an international one. Since 2002, volunteers from the Great Baikal Trail have worked on the project.

Thus, in 10 years from a simple trek through the mountains, we made the 54-kilometer Path to a Clean Baikal a reality, and it became the beginning of the Great Baikal Trail. We can be proud of our success!

We invite you to come and experience our trail! The Path to a Clean Baikal will give you a full appreciation of the beauty and fragility of Baikal’s nature and acquaint you with diverse landscapes and wildlife.

We would be happy to provide you with more information on the path. Please contact us at baikal@eastsib.ru.