Keila Waterfall

Keila-Joa is the easiest serious waterfall to reach from Tallinn, and the one most likely to surprise people who assumed Estonia had nothing of the sort. The Keila river drops about six metres over a limestone step some sixty metres wide, in a wooded gorge that was landscaped into a manor park in the nineteenth century.

What you actually see

• The curtain - a wide, evenly spread fall of dark water over a straight ledge.
• The suspension bridges - two footbridges downstream, where most of the photographs are taken from.
• The riverside paths - walks along both banks under old trees, through the shallow gorge below.
• The manor and power station - a white neo-Gothic block from the 1830s above the park, and a small hydroelectric station beside the fall that still operates.

When to go

April brings meltwater and the strongest flow. September to October is the best of the year, when the park turns and the dark water stands against the colour. Winter puts partial ice on the ledge and empties the paths. Midsummer is the lowest water, still worth the walk for the park rather than the fall.

Honest expectations

Six metres is not tall. The appeal here is the width and the setting, not the drop - this is a river feature you walk around for an hour, not a landmark you travel for. It is also close enough to Tallinn to be busy on warm weekends.

The paths on the far bank are rooty and can be slick after rain, and the steps down from the manor terrace ice up badly in winter.

Nearby

The coast at Lohusalu and the Pakri peninsula cliffs are both a short drive west. Tallinn is under forty minutes back east.