Nõmmeveski Waterfall

The Valgejõgi cuts a small gorge through the limestone here, and at the start of the twentieth century a hydroelectric station was built to use the drop. The station is long gone, but its concrete walls, sluice channels and foundations are still standing in the riverbed, and the water now falls through and around them.

What you actually see

A modest fall and a run of rapids in a steep-sided wooded valley, with the ruins of the power station built into the rock on both banks. Moss and small trees have taken over most of the concrete, and in places it is hard to tell where the structure ends and the gorge begins.

A trail follows the river between Nõmmeveski and Joaveski downstream, which is the better way to see it than the short walk from the car park.

When to go

• April - the snowmelt gives the river its only real volume of the year.
• October - the gorge under autumn colour, and low warm light down the valley.
• Winter - ice on the ruins and the ledge, and effectively empty.
• Midsummer - flow can drop to very little.

Honest expectations

This is small in absolute terms - a drop of a couple of metres and some rapids. The interest is the combination of river and ruin in a narrow green gorge, not the waterfall on its own.

The concrete is old, wet and unfenced. Walking out onto it is how people get hurt here.

Nearby

The rest of Lahemaa is around it - Viru bog, the manor at Palmse, and the coastal villages of Käsmu and Altja are all within half an hour.