The Gauja River mouth is one of the few in which changes in the flow and bed of the natural river can be observed – the formation and washing away of sandbanks and the impact of storms on the configuration of the river mouth. On either side, extensive pine forests extend along the shoreline. Closer to the sea, the grass-covered dunes provide a view of the golden sand banks. One of Europe’s most important migratory-bird routes ranges through the nature park. The Gauja river mouth is part of the specially protected Piejūra (Coastal) Nature Park, founded in 1962 and the third oldest nature reserve in Latvia.  

• For centuries, the Gauja River has been fished for lamprey, and the age-old lamprey-fishing and -processing methods and traditions have been preserved in Carnikava to this day. In August each year, Carnikava hosts a festival celebrating the opening of the lamprey-fishing season.
• This is the only one of Latvia’s major rivers where no port has been developed.