Salajõe karstiala

Salajõe Karst Area

Useful Information

Location:	Salajõe Landscape Reserve, Vedra village, Lääne-Nigula municipality, Lääne county. Keila–Haapsalu highway, road 17, to Linnamägi, turn north on road 230 Dirhami Road for 4 km to the parking lot. (59.021633, 23.669721)
Open:	no restrictions. [2021]
Fee:	free. [2021]
Classification:	karst lake
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	PARKLA, Vedra küla, Lääne-Nigula vald, Lääne maakond, Tel: +372-506-2004. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

You drive along the country road, there are flat meadows on both sides, spreckled with small forests. Now and then a single lane gravel road branching off or a farmhouse in the distance. All in all an ordinary landscape for Lääne County in Estland. And then there is a small parking lot named Salajõe, with an explanatory sign. The Salajõe Landscape Reserve begins here, which covers the largest karst area in Lääne county. The only way to see it is by walking the trail from the parking lot.

Salajõe karstiala (Salajõe Karst Are) is the largest karst area in Lääne County. The Salajõgi River flows underground for some 1.5 km, its former bed on the surface forms a shallow depression, 600 metres long and 100 metres wide. This dry valley is unspectacular, at least most of the year, during dry periods only a few litres of water per second flow in Salajõgi River completely underground. But after heavy rains and during snow melt, the water fills the dry valley and forms a karst lake, which reaches the highway.