River
Pärnu River
145 km from source to mouth · Estonia.
EstoniaFlows into Pärnu Bay2nd longest in Estonia
In numbers
Length
145km
Average flow
48m³/s
Basin
6,836km²
Drop
76m
from 77 m to 1 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
145 km of river and 16 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 77 m
- 27 kmEsna Rivertributary
- 27 kmVodja Rivertributary
- 36 kmTüri5,064 people
- 40 kmPrandi Rivertributary
- 56 kmLintsi Rivertributary
- 70 kmMädara Rivertributary
- 81 kmKäru Rivertributary
- 93 kmVändra Rivertributary
- 104 kmNavesti Rivertributary
- 111 kmTori11,879 people
- 115 kmKurina Rivertributary
- 127 kmSindi3,906 people
- 130 kmPaikuse1,996 people
- 142 kmPärnu41,520 people
- 144 kmReiu Rivertributary
- 144 kmSauga Rivertributary
- 145 kmPärnu Bayat 1 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Estonia
At the mouth it carries 48 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 52 seconds. It drops from 77 m to 1 m, 0.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 6,836 km², about the size of PS. 113,000 people live in it. Highest water: from April to May; lowest: from January to March and July. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- PärnuLargest city on its banks · 41,520 people
- Pärnu Airport (EPU)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 4 km from the cityCar hire at TLL airport (Tallinn)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water20 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Pärnu River, month by month
Highest water: from April to May
Lowest water: from January to March and July. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from January to February. Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 39 m³/s in the lowest month to 330 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, 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.
The basin
Pärnu River: the basin in numbers
6,886 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 113,000people live in the basin
- 17/km²people per km²
- 56maverage altitude of the basin
- 651mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 5.2°Caverage air temperature
- 13%protected areas
- 0.1%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 45% Forest
- 17% Cropland
- 3% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Pärnu River: what you find on the way
- 1Weirs
- 1RapidsSindi kärestik
- 12Boat rampsPaikuse-Reiu slipp, Uuemetsa slipp and 10 more
- 1Ferry piersTalvesadam
- 7MarinasVaala Marina, Pärnu Old Port, Talvesadam - Pärnu Winterharbour and 4 more
- 8River beachesLake Väätsa beach, Tiigi pargi beach, Saialille beach and 5 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Pärnu River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
1mountain at the sourcePeakyas
4islands off the mouthIslandyas
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Valgeranna supelrand7.0 km away18.5°C
Mountains at the source (1)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Villismägi8.7 km away
Islands off the mouth (4)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Manilaid28 km away1.9km²
- Sorgu28 km away0.1km²
- Annilaid28 km away
- Ahtra20 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Pärnu River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (13)
Also: Sauga River, Reiu River, Prandi River, Käru River, Vändra River, Esna River, Lintsi River, Mädara River, Aruküla River, Kurina River, Reopalu River, Vodja River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Estonia102 km280 m³/s26 km awayKasari RiverEstonia115 km37 m³/s61 km awaySalaca
Latvia99 km31 m³/s70 km awayDaugavaLatvia1,020 km680 m³/s151 km awayPedja RiverEstonia125 km11 m³/s109 km awayGaujaLatvia453 km71 m³/s137 km awayPõltsamaa RiverEstonia136 km16 m³/s109 km awayKeila RiverEstonia112 km8.6 m³/s115 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q815462) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
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lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit