Gaiziņkalns Hill is the highest hill in Latvia, and it is a typical example of the hillocks of the Vidzeme highlands. This is a place of wonderful landscapes, even though there are not all that many good viewing areas. At the centre of this park is Gaiziņkalns Hill itself – the highest place in Latvia and the second highest in the Baltic States (311.6 metres above sea level). The viewing tower, alas is not open to the public, because it is in dangerous condition. There is a well-appointed hiking trail around Gaiziņkalns Hill, and during the winter the hill and its surroundings are popular for downhill and cross-country skiing. Lake Viešūrs (Lake Kaķītis) is popular among licensed fishermen. This territory is part of a region of protected landscapes around Vestiena.

This nature park protects the landscapes of the Latgale highlands. Of importance here are Lake Ruskulis and Lake Cīrītis with its eight islands, along with the forests of the area. An ancient castle hill is on one of the islands in Lake Cīrītis – the Upursala island. There and on the Oši island, specialists have found more than 250 species of plants.

One of the highest dunes in Latvia, located between Bernāti and Jūrmalciems villages. It is 37m high and offers a magnificent view of the sea and natural pine forests. The highest dunes in Latvia stand to the South of Jūrmalciems village: the Pūsēnu hill, the Ķupu hill, the Mietragkalns or Tiesas hill, the Pāļu hill, the Garais hill, the Ātrais hill, the Lāvas hill. The Pūsēnu dune is the highest of these dunes which are all called hills by the local people. The Pūsēnu hill developed between 1785 to 1835 when shifting sand became extremely dangerous. Several homesteads were buried in sand, among them „Pūsēni”, where a forester’s family lived. The family is said to have moved to Bārta. The dune was named after the buried homestead.

Jēkabs Janševskis, a Latvian writer, wrote in his book „Nīca”: “In olden times, large pine trees were growing in the dunes on the coast of Nīca and they stood steady and firm. But i Swedish times (around 1650), the Swedes built a large kiln for charcoal and tar. Pine wood and stumps provided an excellent material for this. Once a big fire rose, and the charcoal kiln burned down as well as the whole pine forest. The remaining stumps and bare trunks in the vast burnout could not hold the storm-driven sand; it flew further and further burying not only the burned-out forest, but also the nearest fields. In wintertime, when the vast, low marshy grasslands were covered with ice, jets of sand drifted further over its surface, and soon most of the grasslands and large meadows turned into sandy heath-land and dunes.”

To reconstruct Liepāja, severely damaged during WWII, a silicate brick factory was built in the town. The main raw material was white sand and it was taken from the Bernātu forest. In the 1960-ies they started to dig off the Green Dune and the White Dune, later also the Pūsēnu hill. The excavators used to work day and night, in three shifts. The work stopped at around 1980, as there was no more sand suitable for production of brick.

A trail is set up to facilitate walking in the Pūsēnu Dune in the Bernātu Nature Park.

The old wooden tower at this site was torn down and replaced with the one that is there now. The restored tower offers one of the loveliest views in Eastern Latvia – one of the eight curves of the Daugava. This is the Rozališki curve. Here you will get a whole new sense of the Daugava River and its mighty valley in a place where the waters of a hydroelectric plant bubble away in our present day and age. It is claimed that the scene that is seen on the 10 lats note is based on the view which can be seen to the West from the tower.

One of the most important locations for migrating water birds in terms of rest and feeding in Latvia is the Svēte flood-land, which overflows in the spring time, along with the Svēte polder. It has been calculated that when circumstances are good, tens of thousands of birds can be seen in the area – swans, geese, corn-crakes, pintails, predatory birds, plover-type birds, etc.

Nepilnus 3 km garā taka iepazīstina ar dziļo Imulas ieleju – Abavas kreisā krasta pieteku. Īpaši iespaidīga ieleja izskatās bezlapu periodā, kad ir apjaušami tās izmēri un formas. Viens no takas iespaidīgākajiem objektiem ir Buses jeb Matkules pilskalns. Apskatāmi citi objekti – Baznīckalns, Bedrīšakmens, Ķauķa kalns ar avotiņu. Atrodas dabas parkā „Abavas senleja”.

The forests of Zvārde are located on land which used to be a Soviet air base. The territory was unpopulated and was not accessible to civilians. The vast area includes various types of forest - boreal forest, bogs of black alder, etc. The fact that the military used to control the territory is one of the reasons why the forests of Zvārde are a location where many rare and protected birds live, reproduce and find food. Some of the elements of the old air base are still in place, including a unique surveillance platform. It is recommended that visitors to the area drive only along general use roads.