Rummu Quarry Rim Walk

The Rummu Quarry Rim Walk circles the flooded limestone quarry at Murru, near Vasalemma in Harju County, Estonia, one of the most unusual landscapes in the country. The quarry operated for decades, with prisoners from the adjoining Murru prison working in it during the Soviet period. After pumping stopped in the 1990s the groundwater rose and flooded the pit, leaving the former prison buildings and quarry structures partly submerged in a turquoise lake. Visitors normally arrive by car, about 40 kilometres from Tallinn, parking near the quarry park area. Those without a car can take an Elron train to Vasalemma and continue by taxi, since the quarry is a few kilometres from the station. The walk covers roughly four to six kilometres around the lake and the former prison area and takes one and a half to two and a half hours. Elevation gain is modest, up to about 40 metres on the spoil hills and quarry rims, so the route is easy in distance but includes loose, sandy and stony slopes that call for shoes with grip. Surfaces are a mix of packed sand, gravel, limestone rubble and short steep scrambles up the dunes and heaps. The area is open and largely unshaded, so sun and wind exposure is significant, and edges of the quarry walls can be unstable; walkers should stay back from drop-offs and from the water-filled cliffs. Key landmarks are the half-submerged prison ruins, the vivid turquoise lake, the sandy hills that give the viewpoints over the water and the old quarry machinery. A natural turn-around point is the highest viewpoint over the lake, after which the circuit can be completed or shortened. There are no huts or natural drinking water sources, so visitors should bring water and food. Facilities near the park entrance vary by season. Swimming is possible in summer, but the water is deep and cold, and the shores can drop away steeply.