Nature Walking Trails in the Riga Surroundings

Ķemeri Bog Boardwalk

(images 1–16)

If you don't feel like going too far from Riga, then right here in Ķemeri National Park there is a circular nature boardwalk made of wooden planks. One is the small loop - 1.4 km long, the other the large loop - 3.4 km long. Walking the large loop, one can climb a small but splendidly panoramic observation tower. At the trail entrance there is a snack trailer and wooden tables. If arriving by car, plan for a 1 EUR parking fee.

Every so often on the boardwalk one can spot a lizard warming itself in the sun, and dip one's feet in the warm and dark-brown bog pools. Along the trail there are several stopping areas with wooden benches where one can linger and, like the lizards, bask in the sun a little longer.

Cenas Bog Boardwalk

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For a longer walk one can head to the Cenas raised bog wooden walking boardwalk, which is 6 km long. This trail is notable for its extensive information and interpretive material on the history and technologies of peat extraction in Latvia. Upon arriving at the trail, parking is not clearly arranged - one must leave the car right at the roadside.

The trail begins with a rather narrow boardwalk where two-way movement is difficult - someone must always either step off the boardwalk or make themselves very small. At the beginning there is also the first observation tower, from which the extensive peat extraction fields can be viewed. Further along the trail makes a loop, and roughly at its midpoint is a second observation tower. The most beautiful spot is Lake Skaista in the middle of the bog with a wooden plank deck on the shore, where one can linger longer, meditate, and enjoy nature.

Sloka Lake Nature Trail

(images 36–46)

Trail length 3.1 km. Begins with a wooden boardwalk that leads across a marshy area. Even in dry and sunny weather there is water on both sides of the boardwalk. The remaining two thirds is an earth trail that leads through two types of forest. In rainy periods, in spring and autumn, I would recommend coming in rubber boots, as midway one may encounter proper muck. Now in the summer period one can merely watch out between drier and wetter spots and keep the footwear clean.

The trail in hot weather makes one sweat quite thoroughly - not because of its length, which is fairly easy to walk, but because of the uneven terrain and the substantial tangle of above-ground tree roots. An inevitable summer phenomenon - swarms of mosquitoes and small midges. For people who are not fans of comfort, this trail could well be appealing - but not for me, not for me.