Dukupji Waterfall (Dūkupju ūdenskritums)

Dukupji Waterfall is one of the “famous” small Latvian waterfalls that in many other countries would be unnoticed. But this small wonder of nature is in a flatland where no one would expect to find it.

Waterfall has formed on a smaller brook – Dūkupji Brook – that falls into the Bārta River. This is a forested area and the water is colored brown by the tannic acid. This brook was drained and straightened, most likely, in the second half of the 20th century. The new bed of the brook was cut into glacial sediments – moraine.

Moraine is a fairly hard material that consists of clay, sand, and small pebbles. The power of the stream, though, gradually disintegrates the moraine.

Most likely, initially the waterfall was near the Bārta River. Now it has receded some 90 m from the river, gradually becoming less high. Every year the waterfall looks different. Thus, around 2000 this waterfall was some 2 m high.

Today Dūkupji Waterfall is some 0.9 m high. In spring the width of the stream in the falls is approximately 3 m, but during the summer the stream becomes smaller and might become dry.

Below the falls on the right side another, smaller stream also has a waterfall.

According to some sources, the waterfall is 2.2 m high and has two steps. In April 2023 there was just one step and it was approximately 0.9 m high. No other step was seen.