On September 19, intentional damage was detected on the walking path in the Gauja National Park. Several steps of the stairs connecting Gauja Senleja with Schweitses Street in Sigulda (near Sigulda Mākslu School "Baltais flīgelis") have been completely or partially broken, and the railings have also been broken in some places. Such damage makes the stairs dangerous and unusable, so the trail is temporarily closed. We invite you to be attentive, and if the information signs and tapes have been torn off, but the Nature Protection Board (the board) has not publicly announced the completion of the repair work, do not use the damaged stairs.

At the beginning and end of the trail, there are warning-informative signs about the closure of the trail, as well as the stair platforms are fenced off with tapes. As soon as the stairs are repaired and safe for pedestrians again, the administration will report about it in the media and on its social accounts. We invite you to follow the current information on the website www.daba.gov.lv, www.tiekamiesdaba.lv, as well as on the administration's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

"Gauja National Park is a popular destination for nature tourists. We especially see this in autumn, when the residents and guests of Sigulda and the surrounding area enjoy the autumn colors in the nature trails of the Gauja Valley. Stairs, serpentines and trails are the best way to appreciate the splendor of nature in all its forms. Unfortunately, the damage caused is so great that for safety reasons we close the stairs just before the active influx of tourists. If anyone has seen the currently unknown vandals who have damaged the steep stairs in the last few days, we invite you to contact the administration and report," Rolands Auziņš, director of Vidzeme regional administration of the administration, asks.

Although the stairs at the Sigulda School of Arts are currently closed, various walks in the ancient valley of Gauja are still possible, if you plan another beginning or end of the walk. For example, you can easily go from/to Schweitzes Street to/from Gaujmala along the Lakstīgalu gravas path in front of Maija Park or Sigulda Hospital, from Svētku Square, along the Sigulda Serpentine Road, near the aerial tram and along the Sigulda-Turaida Road pedestrian path.

On the other hand, the selection of new destinations will be facilitated by the Nature Tourism mobile app created and maintained by the administration (Google Play | AppStore), which provides the opportunity to plan a day for a beautiful walk or outing in nature anywhere in Latvia in a short period of time. This app contains more than 700 different nature tourism destinations - nature trails, viewpoints, towers, footbridges, bicycle and boat routes, bird and animal watching places. You can also look at the descriptions available on this website in the WHERE TO GO section.