Crooked Forest (Krzywy Las)

More than fifty pine trees turn sharply sideways just above the ground, run almost horizontally for a while and then shoot straight up again. The Crooked Forest (Krzywy Las) near Gryfino was planted in the 1930s, and nobody knows for sure why its trees look like a row of question marks. This small patch of woodland by the village of Nowe Czarnowo has become one of Poland's best-known natural mysteries.

A mystery without a solution

The protected natural monument covers only about 0.33 hectares. The Scots pines bend at roughly 90° only about 20 cm above the ground, and in some trees the curve reaches a height of 3 m; the trees are 11–12 m tall in total. Most trunks bend in the same direction, and all around them grow perfectly straight pines. The forest was most likely planted around 1934, when the area was still part of German Pomerania – no documents explaining what happened have been found.

There are two main theories. The most popular says the young trees were deliberately shaped to produce naturally curved timber for boats, furniture or sledges. According to the second, presented on a popular science TV programme, the saplings were cut down as Christmas trees at 6–10 years old, leaving the lowest branch; it kept growing towards the light and eventually took over as the trunk. The idea that heavy snow pressed the young pines down has the least evidence.

Saving the crooked pines

The trees are ageing, so in 2020 the Gryfino municipality, the Gryfino Forest District and the Polish energy group PGE joined forces to save the forest; the PGE Foundation gave PLN 250,000 to restore the site and open it to visitors. In 2021 the forest district planted a replacement plot nearby with 1,000 young pines, which are to be bent artificially and one day form a new Crooked Forest. The municipality also published the first illustrated guide, summarising the theories about the forest's origins.

Interesting facts

• A similar crooked forest grew in the Lower Silesian Wilderness, but it burned down in June 2022.
• A red-marked hiking trail from Szczecin-Klucz to Mieszkowice passes through the forest.
• The forest lies right next to a newer housing estate in Nowe Czarnowo, close to the Dolna Odra power station.

Tripto tip

The forest is open around the clock and free of charge; a walk along the path takes 30–60 minutes. Head for Nowe Czarnowo, a few kilometres south of Gryfino, and follow the signs. This is a protected natural monument: don't climb the trunks, don't sit on the curves and stay on the paths. Low sunlight gives the best photos, as the shadows emphasise the shape of the trunks. The visit combines easily with Gryfino or the city of Szczecin.