Barycz Valley

The Barycz Valley is the largest landscape park in Lower Silesia and one of Europe's biggest fishpond complexes. Along the slow-moving Barycz River, between Żmigród and Przygodzice, hundreds of ponds, dykes, riverside woods and wet meadows stretch out — with cranes, geese and white-tailed eagles overhead. There is no single ticket office here: this is a region for bikes, kayaks and binoculars, with a fishing landscape people have been shaping since the Middle Ages.

The park, the ponds and their protection

The Barycz Valley Landscape Park was established on 3 June 1996. It covers 87,040 ha, of which about 70,000 ha lie in Lower Silesia and 17,000 ha in Greater Poland. Its heart is the Milicz Ponds — more than 285 ponds with a combined area of about 77 km², grouped into the Krośnice, Potasznia, Radziądz, Ruda Sułowska and Stawno complexes. They have been a nature reserve since 1963 (today 5,298 ha in five complexes) and a Ramsar wetland since 1995. The valley is also part of the Natura 2000 network, both as a bird area and a habitat area.

History: carp since the Cistercians

The first ponds were dug by Cistercian monks in the 13th century. Some of them occupy hollows left by bog iron ore mining — hence village names such as Ruda Sułowska and Ruda Żmigrodzka ("ruda" means ore). The Milicz Ponds are now Poland's largest carp-farming centre, and the network of dykes, canals and weirs is itself a monument of engineering. The ponds are no deeper than 2.5 m, so in autumn, when they are drained for the harvest, muddy bottoms appear and thousands of birds come to feed.

What to see

• Birds: more than 300 species have been recorded in the park, around 170 of them breeding regularly — including common crane, greylag goose, white-tailed eagle, lesser spotted eagle and red kite. Whooper swans pass through on migration, and occasionally even flamingos and pelicans turn up.
• Ponds for birdwatchers near Milicz: Stary, Jeleni, Mewi Duży, Słoneczny and Grabownica.
• Nature trails: among them Ruda Sułowska (5 km, 8 stops), "In the Land of Birds" (9 km) and "Around Joanna Hill" (7.5 km) through a beech-forest reserve.
• Antonin: the Radziwiłł family's wooden hunting palace and more than 250 oaks, including the Jan Oak with a girth of about 840 cm.

Did you know?

The Barycz is one of the slowest-flowing rivers in Poland, which makes it a good choice for a first kayak trip. Every year from September to November the Carp Days take place, when fish fryers and fish farms serve Milicz carp straight from the harvest. The palace in Antonin hosts an autumn festival, "Chopin in Autumn Colours".

Tripto tips

The best months for birds are April–May (courtship and nesting) and September–October (migration and harvest). Plan a full day for your first visit and use Milicz, Ruda Sułowska or Żmigród as a base. Getting around by bike on dykes and forest roads works best — but check the signs, as some dykes in the reserve are closed to visitors, especially in the breeding season. Bring binoculars, muted clothing and mosquito repellent. On a kayak, a life jacket is a must, and choose your route according to the current water level.