In the four days following the accident, the pine forest immediately downwind of the reactor absorbed an estimated 100 grays of radiation — enough to kill the trees outright. Their needles turned ginger and the wood became the most contaminated stretch of countryside on the planet. The army bulldozed most of it under a layer of sand in 1986; what stands today is a second growth, still hot enough that guides slow vehicles down rather than stop.
The Red Forest is crossed by the road from the Pripyat checkpoint to the power plant, and that is usually as close as visitors come. Step out only at the marked viewpoint where a dosimeter monitors the air at chest height. Even there, do not put a bag or camera down on the soil — particles cling to fabric and are hard to wash off.