National parks in Poland

A tour around the most remarkable national parks in Poland

Thare are 23 national parks in Poland. They were established to preserve the most beautiful places, plants and endangered species. They are really worth seeing. We are going to show some of them.

Białowieża National Park Białowieża National Park is part of the Bialowieża Forest.

Bialowieza Primaeval Forest is an ancient virginal forest straddling the border between Belarus and Poland.

On the Polish side of the forest it is partly protected as Białowieża National Park, and occupies cover 10,502 ha

Approximately 100,000 tourists visit the Polish part of the Forest annually.

Słowiński National Park

Slowinski National Park lies in the central part of the Polish coast, between Łeba and Rowy, in the Pomorskie Voivodeship

The northern border of the Park is formed by 32.5 km of the Baltic Sea coastline.

The Park was established in 1967 and cover the area of 18,069 ha

Park allows hiking as the only form of tourism. There are 140 km of walking trails which lead through the most representative parts of the Park nature and landscape.

Tatra National Park

Tatra National Park is located in the southern part of Poland, in Małopolskie Voivodeship, on the border with the Slovakia.

The National Park was established in 1954 and cover the area of 21,556 ha.

Tatra National Park covers only 0.07% of the area of Poland, it is however, each year visited by about 3 million people, which constitutes about 8% of the country population.

Bieszczady National Park

Bieszczady National Park is the third largest national park in Poland. It is located in the far south-east, in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, at the borders with the Slovakia and Ukraine.

Bieszczady National Park was established in 1973 with an area of 59,55 sq. km. It protected then only a few patches of the most valuable areas - fragments of mountain meadows and surrounding forest.

There are good conditions for the tourism, especially for hiking, horseriding, cross country skiing, cycling and natural photography.

Wolin National Park Wolin National Park is located at the mouth of the Odra river, in the north-west Poland, in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship, close to the Polish-German border.

Park area is 10,937 ha and includes 4,458 ha of forests. Area of 224 ha is strictly protected. It is 6 forests zones.

The continental part of the Park is very diverse. Its representative feature is a cliff coastline, about 15 km long and up to 95 m high.

It is destroyed by sea storms and, as the result, steps back by about 80 cm of a cliff coastline every year.

The fauna of the Island is very diversified and represented by many rare species. Over 230 species of birds have been observed in the Park, including sea eagle, northern hobby, honey buzzard, kestrel.

The Park has a well developed tourist infrastructure, which includes the natural history museum, environmental education centres, exhibition of European bison, and a network of tourist trails, interpretative paths and bicycle routes, many viewing points, as well as car parks and recreation sites.

Karkonosze National Park

The Karkonosze National Park is located within the Dolnoslaskie Voivodeship, in the south-western Poland on the border with the Czech Republic.

The Park was established in 1959 to include an area of 5,510 ha. The present area of the Park covers 5,576 ha

The Karkonosze are the highest range of the Sudetes. The Black Ridge, Kowary Ridge and Lasocki Ridge of the Karkonosze are composed of metamorphic rocks.

The Karkonosze National Park is visited by a million of tourists every year. The tourist infrastructure includes 112 km of walking routes, 10 ski lifts, and 12 mountain hostels.

Kampinos National Park

Kampinos National Park is situated in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, north-west of the neighbouring city of Warsaw. It occupies a part of the Vistula proglacial valley in the Warsaw Basin with a large forest complex - Kampinos Primeval Forests.

Kampinos National Park was established in 1959 cover the area of 40,700 ha. Currently, the park area is 38,544 ha, 70% of which is covered by forests.

The park fauna is abundant and consists of cover 16,500 species, among which insects (over 2,030 species) and birds (199 species) present the highest variety.

Hiking, biking, horse riding, cross-country skiing during winter are allowed in the park. They are facilitated by km of marked trails. 15 car parks, 6 rest sites, camping sites located on the park borders serve the visitors.

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