Rīva

The beginning of the route next to the bridge in the Rīva village (A) shows no evidence of something special. A shore overgrown by alders, rushes dredged in the river during kolkhoz times, an agricultural landscape around. However, after less than a kilometre the river rumbles under a former railway bridge and the Rīva gets back its river bed with a natural flowing and its characteristic landscapes. The shores are tightly overgrown by black alders with rumbling roots rowers usually call mangroves. The flow of the river is fast but not full of rapids. After the last house of the Rīva village surroundings civilization is completely gone and crazy curves start the way to the sea. Chubs rushes in the lucid water. You can often see some pikes but the attentive rowers can even notice some trout fishes here. The shores are overgrown by a great forest - oaks, fir trees, ash trees, maples. There are even some separate larch fields that is a great rarity in the wild nature. The ferroconcrete bridge(B) is a good half way landmark after 8 km. Rapid changes come behind the bridge again - the inclination of the river increases and it becomes much more wider. The deciduous trees stay behind and an old fir tree forest starts to surround you. High sand hills appear. You can take a nice stop and make a small picnic on the sandbanks and islands. In most places the river bed is covered by sand but the depth rarely exceeds 50cm - a perfect place for children to swim. In the last two kilometres before the finish the forest turns into A wide grassy lowland inhabited by beavers. The shores and the river bed is thickly overgrown by reedmaces and clubrushes where the flow has made its way through wide enough for the canoe to pass. The paddlers call this place a “Crocodile farm”. The paddling finish is next to the wooden bridge (C) over the Rīva river that is built over the dykes of the old paper mill. The canoeing trip on the Rīva river can be extended by passing the dykes along the left shore and canoeing last 1.2km to the sea (D). The place where the Rīva river flows into the sea is one of the most scenic seacoasts in Latvia.