Three eco-trails reachable from St Petersburg by a direct suburban train: the «Sestroretsk Bog» reserve — from Finlyandsky station to Beloostrov and two kilometres on foot; «Komarovsky Bereg» — from the same station to Komarovo, a 2.8 km boardwalk trail by the gulf; «Dudergof Heights» — from Baltiysky station to Dudergof, a 3 km trail over two hills. All three are protected areas of the city with the same rules: no fires, no barbecues, no picking flowers and, on the Heights, no dogs.
In October the weather adds rules of its own. The protected-areas directorate says plainly that dirt sections turn to mud after rain and the Dudergof slopes get slippery. Daylight is short, so leave in the morning. We do not quote journey times — check them with the operator SZPPK for your date; our station guide explains which trains go where.
Sestroretsk Bog: Finlyandsky to Beloostrov
The reserve, created by a city decree in February 2011, lies in the lower Sestra valley between Sestroretsky Razliv and the Gulf of Finland. The directorate's directions: from Finlyandsky station (metro Ploshchad Lenina, red line) take a Vyborg-direction train to Beloostrov, then walk 2 km along Zheleznodorozhnaya Street.
Underfoot: much of the trail follows pine-covered remains of ancient sea shore ridges up to ten thousand years old, with glacial kame hills standing like islands in the bog. We could not find the trail's length on the directorate's site, so we do not give one. Wildlife, without romance: the common adder is numerous, alongside viviparous lizards; ospreys, curlews and eagle owls nest. Fires, barbecues, mass events and camping are prohibited.
Komarovsky Bereg: Finlyandsky to Komarovo
Same line, Komarovo station. The shore between Zelenogorsk and Komarovo is a nature monument, and in 2014 it got the first eco-trail on a protected area in St Petersburg: 2.8 km with shortcuts, boardwalks, information boards, benches, bird feeders and a gazebo. The directorate's caveats: dirt stretches are wet after rain, the trail crosses Primorskoye Highway, fires are banned. It is the easiest of the three and pairs well with a day in Sestroretsk and Komarovo. Weekend trains back: Lastochka at 16:39 and 17:24, suburban trains at 19:43, 20:18, 20:58 and 22:34.
Dudergof Heights: Baltiysky to Dudergof
The hilliest of the three. From Baltiysky station (metro Baltiyskaya, red line) take a train towards Gatchina-Baltiyskaya to Dudergof, still shown as Mozhayskaya on older maps and in some apps. The 3 km trail crosses two hills, Voronya and Orekhovaya; the park on them was laid out in the 1820s–30s on the orders of Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I.
Warnings from the site: steep slopes, dirt paths slippery after rain or thaw, so wear shoes with grip. Picking plants, fires, barbecues and walking pets are banned. Trains back from Dudergof to Baltiysky on 7 October: 18:18 and 19:19 daily, 20:01 weekdays, Lastochka 20:51 daily, 21:29 weekdays, 22:23 daily. At weekends the evening gap is about an hour; come down in daylight.
