Skip to content
cavernyas
EN
Ülgase mine, Sept 2010

Estonia Estonia Cave system

Ülgase caves

6 °C inside, all year.

Cave system

See the descentHow to visit

Hannu · Public domain

The descent

The entrance, at 48 m.

The real relief above Ülgase caves, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance1.0 kmvertical × 25.8depth not publishedEntrance1.0 kmvertical × 55.8

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

48m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

6°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

Inside and outside

6 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 6 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 21 °C at the entrance, 15 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket.

outside, at the entrance (48 m)inside
  1. -2°-6°Jan
  2. -3°-7°Feb
  3. 0°-4°Mar
  4. 6°1°Apr
  5. 13°6°May
  6. 17°11°Jun
  7. 21°15°Jul
  8. 20°15°Aug
  9. 16°11°Sep
  10. 9°5°Oct
  11. 4°1°Nov
  12. 0°-3°Dec
Inside: 6 °C all yearFrost outside: Dec–Mar

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Caves in Estonia

Ülgase caves is a cave system in Estonia. The entrance is at 48 m. It has several entrances and long galleries. It lies within Ülgase Nature Reserve.

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Maardunearest town · 6.4 km in a straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.2 km from the entrance
  • Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport (TLL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 17 km in a straight lineCar hire at TLL airport (Tallinn)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

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 ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Ülgase caves (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 3other cave entrances within 3 kmÜlgase fosforiidikaevandus
  • 2viewpoints within 3 km
  • 2marked hiking routes within 3 kmE11 section 48: Jõelähtme - Muuga, Kultuurilooline palverännutee Piritalt Vana-Vastseliina
  • 2car parks within 2 km
  • 3information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 5bus stops within 2 km
  • 7hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmRuhe Rannamaja, Veer, Euro Hostel and 4 more
  • 2restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • campsites within 8 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Maardu6.4 km in a straight line
  • Loo10 km in a straight line
  • Randvere10 km in a straight line
  • Kose12 km in a straight line
  • Pärnamäe13 km in a straight line
  • Viimsi14 km in a straight line
  • Pirita14 km in a straight line
  • Lasnamäe14 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Ülgase caves.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

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

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon-2-3061317212016940
Afternoon-2-3061317212016940
Night-6-7-4161115151151-3
Rain (mm)524240404872657257716857
Rainy days131110101012131412141515
Sun hours/day0.11.54.97.29.69.18.97.34.51.90.00.0
Snow on the ground (cm)21242161000021017
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan-2-2-6520.1
Feb-3-3-7421.5
Mar00-4404.9
Apr661407.2
May13136489.6
Jun171711729.1
Jul212115658.9
Aug202015727.3
Sep161611574.5
Oct995711.9
Nov441680.0
Dec00-3570.0

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (48 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Joonistused Ülgase koopa seinal
Ilme Parik · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ülgase fosforiidikaevanduse käik
Ilme Parik · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ülgase mine, Sept 2010, 2
Hannu · Public domain

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202095%202%134%110%65%126%164%97%89%107%100%86%
2021129%78%118%78%180%38%48%188%44%117%97%84%
2022139%160%52%89%90%51%61%48%75%53%65%132%
2023174%83%192%60%53%41%84%161%166%146%107%93%
202478%123%99%240%19%62%172%113%113%72%122%135%
2025195%57%80%152%133%154%127%113%112%88%102%117%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Ülgase caves

Estonia

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 48 mEntrance altitude
  • 6 °CInside, all year

Virulase cave

Estonia · 33 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 63 mEntrance altitude
  • 6 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Lemminkäinen's Temple

Finland · 87 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 34 mEntrance altitude
  • 5 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Luolavuori Cave

Finland · 188 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 46 mEntrance altitude
  • 6 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q18626951) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

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, month by month, 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.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
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.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit