Skip to content
forestyas
EN

Latvia Latvia forest

Biķernieki Forest

Hellknowz · CC0

47% trees around it and 284 species recorded.

57Forestyas Score

ForestBirds

  • trees within 3 km47%
  • wild within 10 km79%
  • species recorded284

The forest around

47% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 85%Grassland 4%Water 1%Built-up 10%Trees 43%Grassland 13%Water 0%Bare ground 0%Cropland 1%Built-up 43%Trees 42%Grassland 11%Wetland 2%Water 15%Cropland 0%Built-up 29%Trees 48%Grassland 18%Wetland 2%Water 15%Bare ground 1%Cropland 1%Built-up 15%47%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km85%
  • 1–3 km43%
  • 3–6 km42%
  • 6–10 km48%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees43%
  • Grassland13%
  • Wetland0%
  • Water0%
  • Bare ground0%
  • Cropland1%
  • Built-up43%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

284 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Ground-ivy
Ground-ivyGlechoma hederacea23 recordsAnRo0002 · CC0
Greater Celandine
Greater CelandineChelidonium majus19 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bishop's goutweed
Bishop's goutweedAegopodium podagraria17 recordsBeko · CC BY-SA 4.0
Red-berried Elder
Red-berried ElderSambucus racemosa13 recordsAlgirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hoary alison
Hoary alisonBerteroa incana11 recordsHardyplants at English Wikipedia · Public domain
Japanese rose
Japanese roseRosa rugosa9 recordsVihljun · Public domain
European bird cherry
European bird cherryPrunus padus9 recordsИгоревич · Public domain
Bouncingbet
BouncingbetSaponaria officinalis9 recordsImg · Public domain
Garlic Mustard
Garlic MustardAlliaria petiolata9 recordsO. Pichard · CC BY-SA 3.0
Field Bindweed
Field BindweedConvolvulus arvensis8 recordsGiuseppe Frizzi · Public domain
Tansy
TansyTanacetum vulgare8 recordsIvar Leidus · CC BY-SA 3.0
Biting Stonecrop
Biting StonecropSedum acre8 recordsIvar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

57out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 47%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 79%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 284Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km

When to walk

Best for walking in June.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan-3°-7°59 mm
  2. Feb-2°-8°48 mm
  3. Mar2°-4°46 mm
  4. Apr9°1°48 mm
  5. May16°7°52 mm
  6. Jun19°11°76 mm
  7. Jul22°14°82 mm
  8. Aug21°14°80 mm
  9. Sep16°9°59 mm
  10. Oct9°4°78 mm
  11. Nov4°1°74 mm
  12. Dec0°-4°63 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Biķernieki Forest.

Pine forest in Riga, Latvia

Biķernieki Forest is a forest in Latvia.

Seen from space, 47% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 79% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

284 species have been recorded around it: 124 plants, 31 fungi, 129 birds and 0 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Ground-ivy, Greater Celandine and Bishop's goutweed.

The best time to walk is in June.

Biķernieku mežs, Riga, Latvia
Hellknowz · CC0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at RIX airport (Riga)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Biķernieki Forest seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 17marked trails within 5 kmE9 Section 24: Riga City Centre - Vecāķi, E11 section 01: Vecrīga - Baltezers, 1836 (Piejūras ceļš) and 14 more
  • 18named and notable trees within 6 kmAutoostas ozols, Dreiliņu 1. priede, Emma and 15 more
  • 68picnic sites within 4 km
  • 274shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 9viewpoints within 5 km
  • 1visitor centres within 6 km
  • 1,378car parks within 3 km
  • 6campsites within 10 kmCamping & Yachts, Riverside camping, Rīgas pilsētas kempings and 3 more
  • 170places to stay within 10 kmTomo, Viktorija, Best hostelis and 167 more
  • 132restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Biķernieki Forest.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas4 mountains within 25 km
Dreiliņkalns35 m · 1.6 kmDzegužkalns8.6 kmSudrabkalniņš11 kmBumbu kalniņš15 m · 12 km
Lakeyas11 lakes within 15 km
Jugla Lake4.6 km² · 4.7 kmMašēnu ezers0.2 km² · 6.8 kmLielais Baltezers5.5 km² · 8.8 kmĶīšezers16 km² · 9.0 kmLielais Jūgezers0.4 km² · 10 kmMazais Baltezers1.9 km² · 12 kmVecdaugava1.1 km² · 13 kmRiga Reservoir36 km² · 15 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
Baldone ObservatoryBortle 3 · 24 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Biķernieki forest, swamped lake 100 m SE from Bākas kalns (Lighthouse hill)
Egilus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bākas kalns (Lighthouse hill) in Biķernieki forest. (2)
Egilus · CC BY-SA 4.0
15. autobuss Biķernieku mežā
Titāns · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other forests nearby.

Biķernieki Forest

Latvia

  • 57Forestyas Score
  • 47%Trees
  • 79%Wild
  • 284Species

Šmerlis

Latvia · 2 km

  • 61Forestyas Score
  • 53%Trees
  • 81%Wild
  • 259Species

See the guide

National Botanic Garden of Latvia

Latvia · 14 km

  • 62Forestyas Score
  • 34%Trees
  • 91%Wild
  • 503Species

See the guide

Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia

Latvia · 9 km

  • 50Forestyas Score
  • 39%Trees
  • 74%Wild
  • 93Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q329091) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species8,548 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here