The Ahja River ancient valley nature park is one of the oldest landscape protection
areas in Põlva County and Estonia as a whole, formed in 1957. It is located midstream
along the Ahja River in the area between Koorvere and the Otteni (a.k.a. Valgesoo)
mill.
The aim of the nature park is to preserve the landscape integrity of the Ahja River, its
deep valley with its additional valleys and the towering sandstone outcrops on the
valley slopes, the forest growing on the sides of the valley and the meadows on the
valley floor.
It is in this area of the nature park that the relief of the ancient valley is at its most
diverse and the landscape at its most beautiful. In geomorphology terms the
surrounding tablelands have an absolute height of between 50 and 100 metres. They
cleave their way through the large Põlva-Ahja-Luutsna valley, one part of which is
Ahja’s ancient valley. These negative surface forms divide the area into individual
uplands. The gradient of the river in the nature park is 1.1-1.6 m/km, lending the river
its mid-course mountain river character.
The most eye-catching element of the nature park has to be its picturesque cliffs, which
achieve their maximum height and splendour in the Kiidjärve-Valgesoo area. There is
something ancient, majestic and mysterious about these rocks, whose sands settled
here millions of years ago and whose surfaces were worn away to smoothness by the
powerful waters of history.
The most famous of the outcrops is Suur-Taevaskoja, which is 150 metres long and 24
metres high. This cliff, the river beneath it, the meadows surrounding it and the dark
coniferous forests that form its backdrop have such a powerful emotional effect that
the area has been famous as something of a sanctuary for centuries.
And it is right here that you might come across Ahja's most famous birds – its brightly
coloured kingfishers and white-fronted dippers.
The section of river between Kiidjärve and Taevaskoja is where it is met by the Saesaare mill pond, which formed between 1951 and 1953 as a result of the construction of
a hydroelectricity station here – falling victim to which were the largest and most
beautiful cascades in Estonia at the time, the Saesaare rapids. In the end,
unfortunately, the destruction of the rapids proved pointless, as only a few years later
electricity made it to the region on a high tension line from Narva.
The landscape of the park is dominated by forests – light and dry heath and moor
forests, mainly pine, and older, more fertile spruce forests. The river generally flows
through the forests.
You can find a number of rare plants in the nature park: the uncommon umbelliferous
Pleurospermum austriacum (a Category II protected species) and Sarcosoma
globosum, a Category I mushroom species.
There are hiking trails on both banks in the Kiidjärve and Taevaskoja areas, winding
their way up and down along the valley, across its mossy carpet, and in places close to
the edge of the outcrop, producing extraordinary views to the forest and river below.
AHJA RIVER VALLEY LANDSCAPE PROTECTION AREA
Visitors should keep in mind that:
- the forest, river and river banks must be kept clean
- you must not mark the outcrops in any way
- you should only walk on forest paths, bike tracks and hiking trails
- picking and collecting berries, mushrooms and medicinal plants
is allowed in the nature park
- visits with groups of more than 50 people must be coordinated with the park ranger
- fires may only be set in areas designed for that purpose
- you may only remain on private land between sunrise and sunset – at any
other time you must have the permission of the owner
The administrator of the nature reserve: Põlva County Environmental Department
Phone: +372 799 8199, +372 506 3335, [email protected]
The manager of the nature reserve: State Nature Conservation Centre
Phone: +372 765 5876, [email protected]
AHJA RIVER
VALLEY
LANDSCAPE
PROTECTION
AREA
1 : 40 000
Bog, ditch
Sandstone outcrop
Boundary of nature
reserve
Hiking trail
Car park
KEY TO MAP
Forest
Information board,
information stand
Open country
Forest reserve
Settlement, farm
Swimming area
Paved road
Water mill
Gravel road
Archeological
sight
Dirt road
Park
Trail
Memorial stone,
stone cross
Railway,
railway station
Lake, river, creek
0
200
1 cm = 450 m
1000 m