Bolshiye Koty is a small former gold-mining settlement on the shore of Lake Baikal, about 20 km from Listvyanka. No road leads to it, so it is reached on foot along the lakeshore trail or by boat. That is why the landscape around it is still so quiet. Visitors come for the hike, the views from the ridge above the lake, the old gold-mining sites and a small Baikal museum.
Bolshiye Koty at a glance
- 📍 Where: western shore of Lake Baikal, about 20 km from Listvyanka and roughly 90 km from Irkutsk by the route people travel
- 🥾 Main activity: the eco trail between Listvyanka and Bolshiye Koty, walkable in a day in either direction
- ⛴ Getting there: by boat from Irkutsk in summer; by boat or on foot from Listvyanka
- ⏱ Time needed: a day is enough; two days if you want to see everything and stay overnight in a guesthouse or tent
Where does the name come from?
The name means “Large Cats” in Russian, but the village was almost certainly not named after animals. The most accepted explanation is that it was named after the river it stands on, and that the word koto comes from the Evenki language, where it is thought to mean “palm” or “knife”. Another theory links it to the wooden shoes called koty that people wore in wet, marshy weather. The true origin is unknown.
The eco trail from Listvyanka
