Kampinos National Park

Introducing Kampinos National Park

Popularly known as the Puszcza Kampinoska, the Kampinos National Park (Kampinoski Park Narodowy; 022 722 6001; kampinoski-pn.gov.pl) begins just outside Warsaw’s northwestern administrative boundaries and stretches west for about 40km. It’s one of the largest national parks in Poland, with around three-quarters of its area covered by forest, mainly pine and oak.

The park includes Europe’s largest area of inland sand dunes, mostly tree-covered and up to 30m high, and it’s a strange feeling to have sand between your toes so far from the sea. Other parts of the park are barely accessible peat bogs that shelter much of its animal life.

Elks, beavers and lynxes live in the park but are hard to spot; you are more likely to see other animals such as hares, foxes, deer and, occasionally, wild boars. The park is home to some bird life, including black storks, cranes, herons and marsh harriers.

Kampinos is popular with hikers and cyclists from the capital, who take advantage of its 300km of marked walking and cycling trails. The eastern part of the park, closer to the city, is more favoured by walkers as it’s accessible by public transport; the western part is less visited. As well as half- and one-day hikes, there are two long trails that traverse the entire length of the park, both starting from Dziekanów Leśny on the eastern edge of the park. The red trail (54km) ends in Brochów, and the green one (51km) in Żelazowa Wola.

If you plan on hiking in the park, buy a copy of the Compass Kampinoski Park Narodowy map (scale 1:30, 000), available from bookshops in Warsaw.

On the southern boundary of the park around 1km west of the tiny village of Kampinos is a large wooden house that is the Muzeum Puszczy Kampinoskiej (Kampinos Forest Museum; off Map p84; 022 725 0123; Granica; admission free; 9am-4pm Tue-Sun). Inside, static displays wax lyrical on the park’s flora and fauna, while outside there’s a small exhibition (in English and Polish) on the country’s national parks and a group of forest buildings which collectively create a small skansen.

Bivouac sites designated for camping are the only accommodation options within the park’s boundaries, but there are hotels close by in Czosnów, Laski, Leszno, Tułowice and Zaborów. Warsaw’s tourist information centres have a full list of places to stay near the park.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009