Kampinos National Park

Why visit?

Kampinos National Park is the great wild lung of Warsaw — the Kampinos Forest begins practically on the edge of the conurbation. The park was established in 1959 over 385 km² of the Vistula's ice-marginal valley, and in 2000 it was inscribed on the UNESCO list of biosphere reserves as „Puszcza Kampinoska”. About a million people come here every year looking for forest, silence and open space — and find all three barely half an hour from the city centre. The landscape of the forest is unique: parabolic inland dunes up to 30 m high interlace with wetlands and pine woods; this is the best-preserved complex of inland dunes in Europe, and the Grochalskie Piachy are the largest area of sandy dunes in Poland. The park's symbol is the moose, present here since 1951; beavers, lynxes and wolves also live here, and the European Bison Breeding Centre operates in Smardzewice. A network of 360 km of hiking trails is complemented by the 144.5 km Kampinos Cycling Trail and ten educational paths. The forest also has a memory: the struggles of 1794, 1863, 1939 and 1944, and the cemetery in Palmiry commemorating the victims of German executions. The most convenient starting points are Granica (a hub of trails and the former research reserves of the Kobendza couple), Palmiry and Truskaw. The terrain is flat and accessible to everyone, but in summer bring shoes suited to sandy ridges and tick repellent. The forest is at its loveliest in spring, when the marshy meadows bloom, and in autumn, when the oaks turn gold — they make up about 10% of the tree stands.

What you’ll see

• Rezerwat biosfery UNESCO (2000) — 385 km² przy stolicy
• Najlepiej zachowany w Europie kompleks wydm śródlądowych
• Łosie, rysie, wilki i Ośrodek Hodowli Żubrów w Smardzewicach
• 360 km szlaków pieszych i 144,5 km szlaku rowerowego
• Cmentarz w Palmirach i ślady walk z lat 1794–1944

Map