До озера около километра, поэтому мы дошли туда пешком.

It is about a kilometer to the lake, so we walked there.

Breakdown of До озера около километра, поэтому мы дошли туда пешком.

• мы: we
• озеро: the lake
• до: to
• поэтому: so

Questions & Answers about До озера около километра, поэтому мы дошли туда пешком.

Why is it до озера and not к озеру here?

До озера means as far as the lake / to the lake in terms of distance remaining. In this sentence, the speaker is stating how far it is: До озера около километра = It’s about a kilometer to the lake.

К озеру usually means toward the lake or to the lake as a direction of movement, not as a distance expression.

So compare:

• До озера около километра. = The lake is about a kilometer away.
• Мы пошли к озеру. = We went toward the lake.

Why is озера in the genitive case?

Because the preposition до always takes the genitive.

The dictionary form is озеро. Its genitive singular is озера.

So:

• озеро = lake
• до озера = to the lake / as far as the lake

This is a fixed grammar rule: до + genitive.

Is there an omitted verb in До озера около километра?

Yes, in a way. Russian often omits есть or another form of to be in the present tense.

So the sentence literally feels like:

• До озера около километра (есть).

In natural English, that becomes:

• It’s about a kilometer to the lake.

Russian very often uses this kind of verbless sentence in the present tense.