Yalivshchyna is a pine forest park in the Desnianskyi district of Chernihiv, a regional landscape park with an area of about 170 hectares since 2014. It is managed by the public utility institution "RLP Yalivshchyna" of the Chernihiv Regional Council. The park has two ecological trails: "Nature's Wonderland of Yalivshchyna", which is 2 km long with 14 stops, and the shorter "Forest Tale" — 1 km and 10 stops. Both run along the banks of the Stryzhen between the agricultural bio-station and the dam of the Yalivshchyna-1 pond. The longer trail takes an hour to an hour and a half, while the shorter one takes about an hour.
"Nature's Wonderland of Yalivshchyna"
The trail was opened around 2016. Its stops tell about the trees and shrubs of the park, both native and introduced:
- silver birch and black locust — the "thorny foreigner";
- glade with catalpa, linden alley, and the "Tree Compass";
- cork tree and yellowwood;
- shrubs of Yalivshchyna and the exotic plants glade;
- bank of the Stryzhen River and plants of the deepest ravine;
- "Yalivshchyna — Pine Tract", bird cherries, oak grove, and Manchurian walnut.
"Forest Tale"
The shorter trail is convenient for children and school groups; 10–15 people is the optimal group size. Its ten stops range from "The Territory of Yalivshchyna in the Past" to "Be a Friend to Nature": Scots pine, forest species, flora, birds, animals, amphibians, and mushrooms. The trail was equipped at the expense of the regional environmental protection fund — with stands, benches, and bird feeders. In October 2026, seven damaged information stands were replaced along it.
A Bit of History
The name comes from the surname of councillor Yalovytskyi, who owned a mill on the Stryzhen in the 17th century. A botanical garden was created here in the 1890s, and until 1956 it was the only research institution of its kind in Left-Bank Polissia. In 1972, Yalivshchyna was declared a landmark of garden and park art. Archaeologists have discovered settlements from the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Early Slavic, and Kievan Rus periods here.
Tips
The park is open to visitors: the territory was inspected by sappers in May 2022. If you notice a suspicious object, do not touch it and report it to the rescue services. The park also features the "Vasyl Yalotskyi Pine" landmark and the "Royal Hill" viewpoint. It is convenient to get to the entrance by trolleybus to the "Yalivshchyna" stop on Levko Lukianenko Avenue. The map track is approximate: the trails themselves are not on the map, so it is routed along forest paths across the dam, the banks of the Stryzhen, and the pine forest, coming out to about 2.6 km.