Viewpoints

Kurza Góra Lookout Tower in Kurzętnik

The lookout tower on Kurza Góra in Kurzętnik, opened to visitors in spring 2022, combines a viewing point with a forest walk. The wooden structure is about 35 metres tall, and a nearly two-kilometre walkway made of acacia wood leads to it — the whole route is also accessible for prams. Below, the meanders of the Drwęca river wind through the valley.

A walk in the reality of 1410

The trail is complemented by information boards that carry visitors back to medieval Kurzętnik. The thread leads to the year 1410: it was here, by the Drwęca, that the troops of Władysław Jagiełło considered crossing the river on their way to Grunwald, and here the king noticed the ambush in time, giving up the ford. The place has solid historical foundations — on the hill rising to 142 m above sea level stand the ruins of the castle of the Chełmno chapter, completed before 1361. In July 1410 the troops of the Teutonic Order gathered on the plain below the castle.

Views and practice

From the top you will see the broad Drwęca valley, Kurzętnik and Nowe Miasto Lubawskie, and in better weather farther corners of western Masuria. Kurza Góra is also the largest ski station of northern Poland, so in summer you come here for a calm walk, and in winter you will find slopes and tubing runs. Plan about 1.5–2 hours for the walkway, a break by the tower and the return; the drive from Iława to the south takes a dozen or so minutes by car.