Rannametsa-Tolkuse Dunes
The highest sand dunes in Estonia, now inland and covered in pine, with a boardwalk that crosses bog and climbs a tower on top of the ridge.
These dunes were the shoreline of the Baltic several thousand years ago. The sea has since retreated, the sand has been fixed by pine forest, and the ridge now sits inland with bog on one side of it. Tornimägi, the high point, reaches around thirty-four metres, which makes it the tallest dune in the country.
What you actually see
A boardwalk that leaves the road, crosses open raised bog with its pools and stunted pines, then climbs onto the wooded dune ridge and up an observation tower. From the top you get the bog on one side, the forest running out towards the sea on the other, and a clear sense of where the old coastline ran.
The contrast is the point: within a kilometre you go from wet sphagnum bog to dry sandy pine forest.
When to go
- August to September - cranberries and cloudberries in the bog, best colour.
- May to June - fresh green, long light, and the bog cotton in flower.
- Winter - the boardwalk is walkable and the bog is at its starkest.
- Early morning - mist over the bog is the reason photographers come.
Honest expectations
It is a short, easy, flat walk with one climb, and it takes under two hours. Treat it as a stop on the way south from Pärnu rather than a day out.
The boardwalk over the bog is slippery when wet or frosted, and there are no railings on much of it.
Nearby
Pärnu and its beach are half an hour north. Soomaa National Park is a similar distance inland to the east.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.