Murika: Tuhkana Beach and Tar Kiln History

At Tuhkana Beach, Murika’s coastal character comes into focus: the sandy area is 500 metres wide, and the water gets deep quickly. If you are planning your stay around the beach and the water, you can take these two features into account when choosing where to stay. There is also a volleyball court at the beach. Briefly check the facility’s current status before your visit.

Beach access and paths at Tuhkana

The access route from the Tuhkana recreation area to the beach follows a 300-metre footpath. Along the way, you cross a stream, pass Tuhkana Lake and reach the sand via a boardwalk. There is an information board in the recreation area; the route includes unpaved sections and a footbridge. This means that the path surface and crossings are as relevant for orientation as the route’s length.

From the Tuhkana Beach car park, a boardwalk leads through the adjacent pine forest to the beach. The route descriptions therefore refer to different starting points: the recreation area, with its route via the stream and lake, and the beach car park, with its path through the pine forest. When planning your routes around the beach, you can take the relevant starting point and the described surroundings into account.

Coastal landscape and protected area

The Tuhkana recreation area in Murika küla is near Tuhkana Lake, which is rich in water lilies. The lake adds a distinctive waterscape to the beach setting. If you are choosing a destination based on more than just sand, you can consider this connection with nature alongside the beach’s features.

Murika küla and Pammana küla are listed in the register as place names within the Pammana Protected Area. It protects coastal lagoons, coastal meadows, grey dunes and wooded dunes, as well as the habitats of the pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta). Grey and wooded dunes represent two different dune types; lagoons and coastal meadows add to the range of protected habitats. This means the Pammana area’s focus on nature differs from the beach’s direct features of sand width and water depth. If landscape and animal habitats factor into your choice of location, you can consider this aspect alongside the beach.

The Tuhkana-Ranna tar kiln

The Tuhkana-Ranna tar kiln adds a historic structure to the coastal and nature themes. It was built in the last quarter of the 19th century and stands in Murika küla, near Tuhkana Lake, in a pine forest. The tar kiln can thus be understood in terms of both its construction period and its place in the landscape.

The tradition “Tar production in Northern Saaremaa, in Tuhkana” was added to the intangible cultural heritage register in late December 2017. The kiln’s construction period and the tradition’s registration mark different historical milestones: the first refers to when the structure was built, while the second refers to the later recognition of the named tar-making tradition. For choosing what interests you, the historic structure and the inherited practice offer two distinct ways to explore cultural heritage.

Discover more destinations: Õeste, Pärsama, Meiuste, Mujaste, Hiievälja, Leisi, Karja, Linnuse.

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