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.

Atrodas Skuķu ezera ziemeļaustrumu krastā. No torņa labi saskatāms aizaugušais Skuķu ezers ar nelielām ūdens lāmām un ūdeņiem bagātos pavasaros pārplūstošā Dvietes paliene. Laba putnu vērošanas vieta.

An important complex of the coastline and its sand dunes along with the mouths of three major rivers – the Lielupe, the Daugava and the Gauja. This area has ancient traditions of recreation and spa services. The territory has lovely shoreline landscapes and features one of the few coastline meadows in Latvia. The nature park includes several restricted areas – the meadows of the Lielupe estuary, Vakarbuļļi, Daugavgrīva, Vecdaugava and Ummis (see the section on “Restricted Natural Areas”). Interesting elements of nature in this area include the amphitheatre of the Garciems dunes, along with individual dunes such as the Legzdiņi dune and the so-called ski mountain dune. Visitors will be attracted by various cultural and historical monuments – fortifications on the Mangaļi peninsula, military buildings from the period of the Russian tsars all the way through the late period of the Soviet occupation, the fortress of Daugavgrīva, the Vecāķi spa with its old shoreline buildings, and the beaches at Daugavgrīva and Vecāķi. The proximity of the city of Rīga and various important recreational resources are the reason for the massive anthropogenic burden that is placed on this territory. The nature park is appropriate for active tourism (hiking, bicycling, boating, driving), distance skiing, nature and bird-watching, cultural tourism, passive leisure and educational tourism. There are nature trails at Daugavgrīva and the Rožu dunes, along with other elements of infrastructure.

The nature park in the city of Jūrmala was set up to protect dune, pine forest and shoreline habitats. This park features one of the most attractive nature trails in the Rīga area, and it is found near the famous Ragakāpa dune, which can be as much as 17 metres high. This is an excellent opportunity to study dune habitats and the plants, birds, insects, etc., which live there. Visitors can also see pine trees that are 100 years old and older.

The nature park in the Ogre River valley is found along the middle section of the river. It has been established so as to protect the unregulated river valley and its surrounding territory, as well as biological diversity and habitats. For instance, this is an area in which rare park-type meadows can be found in Latvia. The Ogre is one of Latvia’s most popular rivers for water tourism in the spring, particularly downriver from the town of Ērgļi, where the technically complicated Braži rapids are found.

This nature park covers an area of the Baltic Sea coast and part of newly established sea protected area "Nida - Pērkone" with sand dunes which once used to move around but have now settled. These are the highest dunes in Latvia. Visitors will enjoy the coastal landscape, sandy beaches and small fishing villages of the area. A nature trail has been established on Pūsēni Hill (one of the highest dunes in Latvia) for those who wish to tour the nature park.

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.