The area is abundant in game animals and has been a notable hunting reserve for government officials.

But the area is still heavily used for recreation and there are many private settlements and vacation plots interspersed among protected zones.

[1] The landscape is one of flat moraine terrain of mixed forests, swamps, peat bogs, lakes and small rivers.

Of the remaining land, 12% is used for agricultural cropland, 4% is water bodies or wetlands, 2% is grassland, and 2% is built up with human settlement.

The dominant forest character is young to middle-aged birch trees, with stands of old spruce, pine and aspen.

Because the park is easily accessible from Moscow by highway and train, it sees heavy recreational load.