Routes, tours and special events

If you are planning to visit Slītere on the stated date, here you can learn about the routes, guides, levels of difficulties, duration and beginning and end points for the various routes. You can hike the routes yourself with the tourism guide that is available at the Ūši campsite in Kolka where you will register. You can join together with groups or hire a local guide who will inform you about all that is unique at the Slītere National Park. Some of the routes have been prepared especially for visitors’ day – “Looking for the Longest Wooden Railroad Bridge”, “Nature Afire – The Forest and Swamp 20 Years After a Fire”, “Let’s Learn About the Northern Rainforests”, and “Out to Sea in a Fishing Boat.” Other routes are available on other days, as well, but it will be only on June 12 that guides will work for free. They are the people who know the routes best, and you can read about them in the section on guides. Information about how to lease out bikes or boats is also available. Please register for routes here. That will allow you to take part in a lottery, get the new Slītere tourism guide, and taste the fish soup. The soup will be available to everyone at 4:00 PM at the Ūši campsite. Please remember to be green while travelling. You’ll be in one of Latvia’s most beautiful locations – a national park, and so please treat nature and local residents with respect. Here you can find green and practical advice.

We have arranged the routes for the Slītere travellers’ day into three categories, taking into account their length, the type of transport, and the road cover:

An easy route

A medium route

A difficult route

Routes and trips only in the Slītere travellers' day

Hiking routes

Looking for the Longest Wooden Railroad Bridge
Nature Afire – The Forest and Swamp 20 Years After a Fire
Let’s Learn About the Northern Rainforests

Boating

Out to Sea in a Fishing Boat

The Ring of Kolka, 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, 1:00-2:00 PM, 3:00-4:00 PM

Start and finish:	Kolkasrags Visitor Centre
Length:	3 km
Duration:	1 h
Guide:	Jānis Dambītis
Route:	Appropriate for all hikers who wish to learn about Cape Kolka and its surroundings from several perspectives.
Original route:	Print version

Along the Seashore, 12:30-4:30 PM

Start and finish:	At the information stand at Košrags
Length:	6 km
Duration:	4 h
Guide:	Inese Roze
Route:	From Košrags to Pitrags along the seashore and back to Košrags through villages.
	You will learn about nature and biotopes along the seashore, and you will also learn about the cultural heritage of the Liv people.
Original route:	Print version

Learn About Mazirbe, 1:00 PM

Start and finish:	At the Mazirbe People’s Centre
Length:	5-7 km
Duration:	4 h
Guide:	Veronika Millere
Route:	This route covers Mazirbe and its surroundings. Visitors will learn about the cultural and historical aspects of the Liv people, who have lived along the coastline for centuries.
Original route:	Print version

Looking for the Longest Wooden Railroad Bridge, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Start and finish:	The Šlītere Estate
Length:	7 km
Duration:	4 h
Guide:	Andra Ratkeviča
Route	The Šlītere Estate, the Great Rock, Dzelzceņieki, the bridge, Trīskalniņi, the peat moss excavation site, Ceplejas, the tower of the Blue Hills, and along the cliffs to the Šlītere lighthouse.
	The route follows the tracks of a former narrow-gauge railway. It’s not an easy route – make sure that you’re up to it!

Nature Afire – The Forest and Swamp 20 Years After a Fire, 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Start and finish:	Uši (approximately 7 km from Kolka)
Length:	~ 10 - 12 km
Duration:	5 h
Guide:	Kristaps Vilks
Route:	This tour focuses on the world of insects in the Bažas Swamp, which is a nature reserve in the Slītere National Park. You’ll cross the swamp to Bažkangars, where you will see the results of a fire that occurred 20 years ago. You’ll see how the territory has recovered, you’ll see various kinds of insects, and you’ll hear all about the animals and insects that live in this area.

Let’s Learn About the Northern Rainforests, 7:00-11:00 AM

Start and finish:	At the water tower in the centre of Dundaga
Length:	~ 3 km
Duration:	4 h
Guide:	Elmārs Pēterhofs
Route:	Participants in this tour will learn about labyrinths in the cliffs that were left behind by the Baltic Ice Sea more than 10,000 years ago. The cliffs are surrounded by forests that have the greatest wealth of wild animals in Northern Europe. Please make sure that you dress appropriately and wear footwear that would be right for a “rainforest.”

Through the Liv Villages, 12:30-2:30 PM

Start and finish:	At the Pītagi guest house in Košrags
Length:	10 km
Duration:	2 h
Guide:	Ālanda Pūliņa
Route:	Košrags, Mazirbe, and back to Košrags – a forest path in one direction and then the paved Ventspils-Kolka road in the other direction.
	This is a route for bicyclists who are interested in the environment of the seashore and the fishing villages of the Liv people. Some of these still offer a look at how fishermen worked in the past.
Bicycle rental:	Bicycles are available for rental. Please make reservations.
Original route:	Print version

Around the Kolka Lighthouse, Noon to 5:00 PM

Start and finish:	The Ūši campsite or the car park at Cape Kolka
Length:	15 km
Duration:	4-5 h
Guide:	Raivo Šulcs
Route:	The first 500 metres of this route will lead along the western shore of the Bay of Rīga, but at the Cape Kolka shallows, you will turn in the direction of the Kolka Lighthouse. You will ride along the artificial island where the lighthouse is located. The route involves special boats that are stable and appropriate for travel into the sea.
Sea-kayak rental:	Please reserve boats in advance by contacting Luīze at www.seakayak.lv. A one-seat boat will cost LVL 10, a two-seat boat will cost LVL 20, and water-resistant outerwear will cost LVL 2.
Original route:	Print version

Bird-watching, Noon to 2:00 PM

Start and finish:	At the car park at Cape Kolka
Length:	5 km
Duration:	2 h
Guide:	Helmuts Hofmanis
Route:	This hike along the Baltic Sea is around two kilometres long, heading toward the village of Vaide. You’ll see gulls, ducks and plovers. You’ll then return to Cape Kolka via a forest path, where you will hear and see titmice, woodpeckers and other forest birds.
Original route:	Print version

Animal-watching, 5:00-7:00 AM* and 1:00-4:00 PM

Start and finish:	At the Siliņi homestead in Mazirbe
Length:
Duration:	2 h
Guide:	Vilnis Skuja
Route:	The tour will focus on forest wildlife – wild boar diggings, dams set up by beavers and, with luck, some of the animals themselves.
Original route:	Print version

Animal-watching II, 5:00-7:00* AM and 1:00-4:00 PM

Start and finish:	At the Puteri homestead
Length:	~ 6 km
Duration:	3 h
Guide:	Andris Ratkevičš
Route:	This guided tour will focus on the Ķikāns lowlands meadow and an old pine forest with tracks of different animals – insects, birds, artiodactyls and wolves.
Original route:	Print version

Out to Sea in a Fishing Boat

Start and finish:
Length:
Duration:
Fisherman:	Visvaldis Feldmanis, Ēriks Ļihačevs, Guntis Otomers
Route:

* 3- 5 people in group

During the course of this day, all visitors will be able to visit various locations for free or at a discount. These include the Liv People’s Centre, the Mazirbe Lutheran Church, the Šlītere lighthouse, the Dundaga Castle, and others. See more information in Latvian.