River Raunis – Vaive Mill

A linear hike that starts at the old Cēsis–Madona road bridge over the Raunis (next to the new P30) and continues for 8 km along the Raunis valley to where the Raunis flows into the River Rauna, and a short distance along the River Vaive to Vaive Mill, where the hike ends.

The Raunis is one of the fastest rivers in Latvia, with a fall of 7.7 metres per kilometre. Along its entire length the river is very shallow (depth from half a metre to one metre) and winding, with many rapids and accumulations of fallen trees. The riverbed is stony, and in the upper and lower reaches more sandy and pebbly. In the lower reaches the river valley (the Raunis valley) is up to 30 m deep. The banks are steep and contain many sandstone outcrops, but none of the outcrops has been given an official name. In 1997 the book “Latvia’s Nature” was published, in which some of the sandstone outcrops were given unofficial names: Striped Cliffs, Kunči Rock, Pārupe Rock, Danki Rock, Priežkalni Red Cliff, Skaņaiskalns Hill of the Raunis, Red Bank, Krāces Rock, Sesis, High Bluff. Two of the outcrops have names used only by nature researchers: Kalndanki Rock and Ķekaviņa Mill Rock. Devonian fossils have been discovered in some of them. Springs, landslides and small caves can also be found on the banks of the Raunis. There used to be a cave named Ķekaviņa Cave, but it has now collapsed. The river water is very clean and contains very little organic matter but a lot of iron. The Raunis valley is difficult for people to access.