Cycling around Kýiv - Derevľanščyna

A 4-day light-weight cycling route, done in mid-Oct 2021 across a hilly and forested terrain of the Slovečanśko-Ovrućký ridge (Словечансько-Овруцький кряж), pierced by strong clean rivers with strange names (Noryń, Xajčanka, Žerev) and numerous wells and springs. The most well-known tourist attraction along the route is the Stone Village (Камінне село), but apart from that most places are sheer terra incognita.

DAY 1 (80 km). Starting from Korosteń, where the earliest suburb train from Kýiv arrives at 10:12. The city itself has some beautiful nature: Derevľanśký Park (Деревлянський парк) on the banks of the rocky canyon of the river Už, Park Peremohy with a high hanging bridge, and an archaeological site of Červona Hirka (Червона Гірка). After a short tour in the city on a chilly morning, I set for the route downstream along the Už, and for the next 15 km was going basically through the suburb villages (could have picked a better route, though). After crossing the M-07 highway, the landscapes get picturesque: the river flows through the forests (quite damaged by the recent fires) and has some large ponds on it. One of these ponds is formed by an old watermill dam in the village Nemyrivka (its ruins are still standing), the next one - by a small hydropower plant in Bardy. In the next village Mežyrička (Межирічка) the river flows in rocky rapids.
Soon afterwards we cross the road T-06-04 and enter a swampy forest. The road is a well-beaten gravel here, as it goes to a popular local picnic place - a lake of the former Ihnatpil sand quarry. In less than 10 km to the West situates another Ihnatpil quarry - a granite one, still functioning.
This part of the route goes upstream the Žerev (Жерев) river to the village Povč (Повч). Hidden in the sandy forest nearby is a large recreation zone on the bank of the Povč reservoir - with a beach, catamarans and a perfect place for a lunch. The resting places stretch far south all the way to the town Luhyny, but my goal is to go in the opposite direction - through the vast forest massif towards the village Moščanyća (Мощаниця). At first, the road is quite comfortable until it reaches a tiny foresters' village Buda - after that, not every track is passable, and for the next 5-7 km there will be some struggle with the sand, especially near the fellings. Eventually I went out on a beaten road, leading to the destination of this day - a hotel-resort 'Daľnij Kordon' (Дальній Кордон) - by all means a wonderful place to stay right in the nature and literally in the middle of nowhere. Was amazed to see so many people there at that autumn time.

DAY 2 (90 km). This day is devoted to the wonderful landscapes of the Slovečanśko-Ovrućký ridge and some of the remarkable sites nearby. Starting early in the morning and quickly passing the mining village of Norynśk, I headed towards the hilly banks of the Xajčanka (Хайчанка) river. The next 40 km will be a comfortable ride around the ridge, finding wells in the forest and climbing 100 m uphill to reach the highest hills here. A really surprising place is a large recreation zone of Sorokopenśka Well (Скорокопенська криниця), built in a deep ravine amid the wood - with a bath on the spring, lots of huts for picnics and a chapel.
The next point of interest is an abandoned pyrophilite mine, hidden in the forest above the village Barvinkove - but frankly speaking, I only found ruins of a small brickwall building there, nothing spectacular. But the forest covering the hills is really beautiful here.
So after finding 5 springs scattered around the ridge, I got to the road leading eastwards to Ovruč (Овруч) - the largest town in this area (apart from Korosteń) and with some architectural heritage worth seeing. Not in a hurry, I spent time for a meal and took a short ride on a suburb diesel train to Fosńa (Фосня). Here I decided to visit another spring and Park Julyne near Potapovyči (Потаповичі) - but those places are frankly not very interesting. A better way would probably be to go across the abandoned air base Ovruč. Anyway, till the end of the day there remained to ride the inelaborate 26 km though the villages back to Daľnij Kordon.

DAY 3 (120 km). The quintessence of the entire route. The distance was quite long for a short October day, so I set off before dawn and used these early hours to ride 30 km along the highway towards the village Slovečne (Словечне) - the largest in this area and even hosting a couple of museums. The target is the village Horodeć (Городець), which can be reached by concrete roads, but I decided to take a turn into the fields, so that to pass one of the highest points of the Slovečanśko-Ovrućký ridge upon my way - 316 m.
From Horodeć, the road enters a vast forest covering the western slopes of the ridge. It is possible to travel from village to village along the gravel roads here, but I took a shorter option through the woods, passing several natural reserves along the way - all in all, the forest looked great and wild here, and the leaf-covered tracks were totally passable. After leaving two more villages behind, I went further to the west - towards a large forest lake Didove Ozero. That's another wonderful place to have a rest - all the conveniences are there.
The track continues to go westwards - now it is a broken stone road, then turns into a sandy forest track - and in 10 km it reaches the village Ustynivka (Устинівка). The forest is quite damaged here - a lot of signs of the recent fires, and most areas are not wild, but planted by men.
Soon after Ustynivka the road turns to the left - where all the tourist buses are going, to the Stone Village - large round rocks, revealed by the retreating glacier. It is the only place where you are supposed to meet many people, especially if it is a weekend. Going further into the marshy forest and then through the pasture - and you find yourself in Rudńa-Ozeŕanśka (Рудня-Озерянська), here starts a large area once used for peat mining. This place is also known for another kind of 'rocks' - the WW2 pillboxes of Stalin's Line. One of these concrete pillboxes is flooded right in the nearest lake.
Our road goes for 15 km more to the south, passing half-abandoned mining settlements along the way. Near the town Družba you will be amazed by the marvelous views on the granite quarries - do not miss a chance to ascend the hills of the Dibrova quarry, the surrounding landscapes are really terrific.
I ended the day in the village Bilokorovyči - the only place around, hosting a hotel - and quite a good one in fact.