The Tarvasjõgi is a river in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. It is also called the Mõnuvere (). It is a tributary of the

Jäneda Jäneda () is a small village in northern Estonia. It is located in Lääne-Viru County (from autumn 2005) and is a part of Tapa Parish, Tapa municipality. History Jäneda hill fort Jäneda hill fort was a hill fort used from the 10th to the ...

, which in turn flows into the Jägala and thence into the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. The Tarvasjõgi begins near the Piibe Highway (a historic road that connects

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

). The river is long and has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. The river starts at Piibe Road, 5 km southwest of the village of

Peedu Peedu is a village in Järva Parish, Järva County in northern-central Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west b ...

. This place is located in the Lääne-Viru County, south of Jäneda and Kõrveküla in

Tapa Parish Tapa Parish () is a Municipalities of Estonia, rural municipality in Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Tapa, Estonia, Tapa. It is located 70 km east of Estonia's Capital ( ...

. It flows south until it reaches

Järva Parish Järva Parish is a municipality in Järva County, Estonia. It was created in 2017 as a merger of 6 municipalities: Albu Parish, Ambla Parish, Imavere Parish, Järva-Jaani Parish, Kareda Parish and Koigi Parish. Religion Notable people * ...

Järva County Järva County ( or ''Järvamaa''; ; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the central part of the country and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Jõgeva County to the south-east, Viljandi County to the south, Pärnu County t ...

and then continues further southwest. In the village of Mõnuvere, it turns northwest and reaches

Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve () is a Protected areas of Estonia, protected area in Harju County, Northern Estonia, some 50 km east of Tallinn. With an area of 130.9 km2, it is the third largest List of protected areas of Estonia, na ...

, which it flows through for the rest of its course. At the point where it crosses the road between Jäneda and Alavere, it reaches the border of Harju County and continues as the border river between Järva and Harju counties. Shortly before its mouth, it enters

Harju County Harju County ( or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla Count ...

Anija Parish Anija Parish is a rural municipality in the eastern part of Harju County, Estonia. The administrative center of the parish is the town of Kehra, while the borough of Aegviidu and the village of Alavere are also notable. In total, the parish c ...

. After one kilometre, it joins the

, which in turn flows into the Jägala and thence the

. Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve, which the river flows through, is the third-largest nature reserve in Estonia, with an area of . The scenery was formed by the retreat of the glaciers about 12,000 years ago. The land has extensive lakes, bogs,

eskers An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratum, stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glacier, glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Euro ...

, sand and gravel

kame A kame, or ''knob'', is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the g ...

s, fens, and heaths, with 40 percent forest cover. It provides a habitat for

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...

, and

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

s, and protected bird species include

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

s, western capercaillies, and

common crane The common crane (''Grus grus''), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane (bird), cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarvasjogi Rivers of Estonia