Gaujas senlejas Stirnu buks

After the party at Šlokenbeka manor, at the the sixth race "Stirnu buks 2017" goes to explore the oldest and the biggest national park in Latvia - Gauja National Park. We have been there already last season – in Sigulda, but this time we will enjoy a different place - the beautiful nature, wooded valleys of Gauja river and sandstone outcrops in Līgatne. No wonder that Līgatne is being called the town of caves – those here are everywhere! Overall there are 333 cellar caves and 15 cave passages.

Start/finish: Līgatne district Cultural and tourism center, Līgatne district. GoogleMap here!
Race schedule: HERE!
Detailed distance maps: bit.ly/GaujasSenlejasBuks
GPX files of distances available here (click on "Save link as"): “Vāvere – GPX”, “Zaķis – GPX”, “Stirnu buks – GPX”, “Lūsis – GPX”.

Līgatne is located in Vidzeme region, at the left bank of Gauja river and in the very centre of Līgatne district. Here you can see winding banks of Gauja with sandstone outcrops and caves. Līgatne is a town rich in colour – deep green forests, golden, gray and reddish cliffs and bluish water flowing in the river nearby.
Līgatne is situated at the territory of Gauja National Park, which has a large variety of plants and animals. In the park you can see long-standing rocks, cliffs, caves, grottos and rapids, as well as exciting walking routes.
Although we won’t run through the most recognizable tourism object in Līgatne – Līgatnes dabas takas (Līgatne nature trails), which is an object for a separate and unhurried walk – there are plenty of other things worth seeing! Besides sandstone outcrops, cave cellars, forests and glens of rivers Gauja and Līgatne, we will get to know the unique wooden building village, which was built in the 19th century for the workers of the local paper-mill and in those times was the most modern worker’s village in Europe. We will also run past the secret bunker of the Soviet Union, which was ment to hide the Soviet elite in case of a nuclear war. But the sprint section will take the runners up the Līgatne skiing hill – although no one is skiing here for a few years now, the hill still is challenging!

In getting tho know the forests of Līgatne and its neighbourhood, Stirnu Buks had a great help from Armands Beitiks and Artis Ločmelis. Also the locals are very cooperative – we haven’t seen that much of positive people in a long time: they didn’t mind that we ran through their properties while searching the perfect tracks! Even the dogs here are more friendly than elsewhere!