Over Thanksgiving break, my most thankful memory was my visit to Estonia and Latvia. I rented a car at the Tallinn airport and drove into staying near the old city. After a day walking around the capital, I was ready to explore and see what the rest of this small Baltic country had to offer. One place that really intrigued me was the Lahemaa National Park Viru Bog Nature Trail.
Lahemaa National Park Viru Bog.
Researching Lahemaa National Park Viru Bog
Who does not love a bog. I grew up near Volo Bog in northern Illinois, and I really appreciate the biome, so I wanted to check this place out. As a bonus, it was only an hour plus away from Tallinn. Even more of a bonus, the Niagara Falls of the Baltics was on route, so two birds killed by one trip.
Related: Volo Bog four season photo essay
Beautiful Jägala Waterfall in northern Estonia.ma
First stop Jägala Waterfall
I punched in Jägala Waterfall into my Google Maps, and it informed me it would be a 31 minute drive. Traffic was not too bad out of Tallinn, and I was soon out of the suburbs and onto the main highway going east along the Gulf of Finland. Pretty soon, I exited the highway onto a rural road, and soon I was the only car in the Jägala Waterfall parking lot. It was a chilly November day in the low 30s fahrenheit. There was not much snow accumulation, but it was quite icy.
Jägala Waterfall parking lot, which included a coffee vending machine.
The waterfall was a small but powerful single drop waterfall. The Jägala River is a medium sized river that widened at the waterfall, so it was an impressive sight. In fact, it is the widest, largest, and most powerful waterfall in Estonia. I would say the water was at normal to high range, so the flow over the waterfall was beautiful. The water was dark colored and looked brownish as it flowed over the falls. There were plenty of places to view the falls from. A trail led to both the top and the bottom of the waterfall.
Cannot even fit the whole width in the shot – Jägala Waterfall.
Birding the forests around Jägala Waterfall
After getting my full of the waterfall, I walked the roads and trails around the waterfall looking for birds. I did not see much although I did hear various kinds of tits, nuthatches, and woodpeckers, but I did not get a good view of anything and took no pictures. It was a scenic wooded area that reminded me a lot of northern Wisconsin.
The obligatory waterfall selfie at Jägala Waterfall.
Next stop – Lahemaa National Park Viru Bog
Viru Bog was just another 20 minutes away from the waterfall, so the whole trip was not even an hour. One thing of note on the way to the bog, there were several moose crossing signs. I did not see any moose, but I did see a beautiful common buzzard, which is actually a hawk on the way to the park. I pulled off onto a country road to try and get a few pictures.
Common buzzard along the highway.
Screenshot of the moose crossing sign painted on to the highway.
The Viru Bog Nature Trail is a 3.5 kilometer trail that circles around the bog and at times goes through it. There is an observation tower overlooking the bog and many boardwalks, but also sections that are along the edge in the forest. If Jägala Waterfall resembled Wisconsin, the national park and the bog reminded me of northern Minnesota, so it was no surprise to see moose crossing signs.
Near the beginning of the Viru Bog Trail.
Observation tower and boardwalk
I did not see too many people on the trail, but there was a group of young people gathered at the observation. This was also the most active place for birds. They are obviously attracted by the people who leave scraps and crumbs for them to forage. I saw many great and crested tits here in abundance. The observation tower gave a great glimpse of the bog over its most lake like appearance. It was frozen over with a couple of inches of snow.
Great tit in a tree by the observation tower.
Many of the hikers at the observation area had spikes for walking on the ice, so I was a little worried about continuing on the boardwalk as it went through a deeper area of the bog, but there was snow on the boardwalk too, so that helped keep traction. I had hiking boots on, so the tread from the boots was sufficient.
Scene from the observation tower.
The Dead Marshes from the Lord of the Rings
Once I passed the observation tower, the next section of the boardwalk was otherworldly beautiful. In fact, it reminded me of the Dead Marshes from the Lord of the Rings. This was the part when Golum saves Frodo by pulling him out of the marsh after looking in and seeing dead soldiers come to life. I did not see any dead faces in the pond, but the scenery was stark and scenic.
Viru Bog resembles the Dead Marshes here.
The rest of the trail was completed without incident. I heard some distant woodpeckers and saw several goldcrests, birds that closely resemble golden-crowned kinglet, but I did not see much else. Birding is always hit or miss when winter temperatures arrive.
Beautiful pine forest on the Lahemaa National Park Viru Bog Trail.
Lunch at a nearby gas station
There are no amenities for food around the Bog Nature Trail. There are some restaurants in the vicinity, but I doubted they would be open on a cold November day. I backtracked about ten minutes back down the highway towards Tallinn and stopped at Alexela Kuusalu, which was a gas station directly off the highway. I bought a hot dog in some sort of pocket with ketchup and mayonnaise and some drinks. It was pretty tasty for gas station fare.
Living the dream in Estonia with a hot dog type of lunch.
Aimlessly drove around Lahemaa National Park
When I researched the park, the bog trail was the most prominent activity that came up, so I figured I would hike this first and then while there, find something else to do. I ended just aimlessly driving around the park for the next couple of hours before it got dark, which was pretty early and then returned to Tallinn. Looking back, I wish I would have done more research to find something else to do. There are beaches and scenic views along the coast, and I stopped at one, but this was not really appealing during this time of year. I also just parked the car a couple of times and looked for birds, but I did not hear or see much.
Lahemaa National Park Viru Bog Nature Trail.
In retrospect, I should have picked another trail to hike. There are several other trails besides the Viru Bog Nature Trail that vary widely in distance. The Ojakivi Trail looks like it would have been an interesting one to explore. There are a list of trails in the park found here.
Another great view from the Viru Bog Trail.
Lahemaa Park National Park Viru Bog is probably better in the summer
Although I enjoyed my time here, I am sure the national park is more beautiful in the summer when you can more enjoy the coastal areas. Also, it is possible to swim in Viru Bog. I guess the water is super clean. That would definitely be a cool experience. There was no charge for entrance into either the park or the waterfall, so it was a very frugal day spent in Estonia, where I only paid for lunch and gas. Check out the national park website for more information.
Adventure on!
