Soomaa National Park

Soomaa is an exciting place to visit every season. It is particularly exciting here, however, during the spring floods, or the fifth season. When the water is high, you can take a canoe and access places you normally wouldn’t. In addition, with the high waters, more animals and birds can be seen around than the usual, as they would otherwise remain unnoticed by the human eye in the deep forest or in the shadows of the trees by the riverside.

In Soomaa, residential buildings have been built differently than elsewhere in Estonia – with the front door facing the river. The spring high water sometimes rises so high that it lifts woodpiles and lighter buildings off the ground. In the old days, people used to prepare for the early spring high water in good time – bread was baked, woodpiles were attached to the fences, crop bins were lifted up on benches, and floors were covered with crossed boards.

Rivers and their floods have helped shape the development and preservation of various traditions in Soomaa. One of them is the ancient dugout boat made from a single tree. The building and use of expanded dugout tree boats in Soomaa was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding list.