Nāruža Devil’s Ditch

Nāruža is a small river which before the stony ravine or the Devil’s ditch has run into a wide and swampy valley. Further there is a natural dam in the river through which the river has cut the ravine. Here the Nāruža River serves as a border beween Ogre and Ērgļi parishes. In the Ērgļi side where there is Baltiņi homestead, the bank of the river valley has been used as pasture, the opposite bank in the side of Ogre parish has overgrown with underbrush and long grass. It must be taken into account that the moraine the river is cutting through is very stony because the river bed is full of big stones covered with green moss which might have rolled into the river from both sides of the valley. The stony river bed – the Devil’s Ditch – is approximately 100 m long, around 30 m wide, with 4 – 5 m height diffrence between the river source and mouth, the steep slopes of both banks approach very close to the river which in this place runs under the stones. Further the banks gradually retreat and the amount of stones decreases, although the river bed remains stony for about a kilometre. The stony Nāruža River generally leaves a naturally wild and monumental impression which might be connected with the sacral activities of the eternal mythological character of Devil. In legends the Devil’s Ditch is connected with the Devil’s Lap, which is located around 300m SE from the Devil’s Ditch on Ogre side.