AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Sopa Spring is the deepest natural spring in Estonia, plunging 4.8 metres into the earth with water so crystal-clear that the depth comes as a surprise. Set within the Endla Nature Reserve in Järva County, it is reached by a gentle 900-metre learning trail through dry meadows and forest, ending at a viewing platform that wraps around the spring itself.↗↗
Local legend says Vete-ema — the Mother of Water from Estonian folklore — lives here, and on summer days you can see ribbons of green waterweed drifting beneath the surface like her flowing hair. The spring sits within a cluster of powerful water sources where an estimated one million litres of water surge from the ground every hour.↗↗
What Makes Sopa Spring Special
At roughly six metres across, Sopa Spring looks deceptively modest from the platform — but the water is so transparent that you can see the full 4.8-metre depth falling away beneath the surface, like looking into a well cut from glass. Estonian environmental scientists estimate that the broader Norra Springs area pushes nearly a million litres of groundwater to the surface every hour, and Sopa is the jewel of this underground network.