Nature

The Royal Oaks Trail in Białowieża

Just north-west of Białowieża, between Pogorzelce and Teremiski, a wooden boardwalk leads through the Stara Białowieża wilderness — the place where the first settlement named Białowieża stood centuries ago. This is the Trail of the Royal Oaks and Lithuanian Dukes: an educational path about 500 metres long among monumental oaks aged 150 to 500 years.

Trees bearing the names of rulers

The centuries-old oaks carry the names of monarchs who came to the Białowieża Forest to hunt: you will find oaks named after Vytautas, Trojden, Gediminas, Leszek the White, Casimir the Great, Bona Sforza, Władysław Jagiełło, Stephen Báthory, Sigismund Augustus and John Casimir, as well as the oak of Barbara Radziwiłłówna. By each tree stand boards with its name, age and dimensions plus a short note about the ruler — the walk becomes a lesson in the history of Poland and Lithuania from the 12th to the 18th century.

On the boardwalk since 1978

The path was laid out in 1978 and modernised in 2008: today it runs along a wooden boardwalk adapted to the needs of people with reduced mobility and has been enhanced with information boards. The trail lies by the narrow-gauge railway station, along the yellow hiking trail from Białowieża to Narewka, in the forest complex of the Stara Białowieża wilderness.

Practicalities

The path is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. A visit combines conveniently with a ride on the narrow-gauge railway from Białowieża, and after the walk it is worth visiting the Bison Show Reserve and the Palace Park — both lie less than 3 kilometres from the start of the path.