Dunes of the Stobrawa Landscape Park

The Stobrawa Landscape Park, established on 28 September 1999 over an area of 52,636.5 ha in the northern part of the Opole Voivodeship, is the region's youngest landscape park — and a refuge for inland dunes with relative heights reaching 20–30 m.

Sands from twelve thousand years ago

The dunes formed at the transition between the Ice Age and the post-glacial period, around 14,000–10,000 years ago, when the wind carried post-glacial sands from sparsely vegetated land and deposited them on obstacles it met: boulders and hills. Hence their characteristic shape — a gentle slope on the windward side and a steep one on the other. Over time the dunes grew over with vegetation and became fixed; those bare of plants are today usually the effect of mining extraction of sand.

Where to find the highest one

The park's highest dune, Kosowce (about 30 m), lies near Dąbrówka Łubniańska in the Łubniany commune; further ridges stretch south-west of Karłowice, along the yellow trail. On the dry summits there is no soil or water — light-loving pines grow there, while in the foothills, where water gathers, peat bogs and marshy coniferous forests have developed with bog bilberry, cranberry, marsh Labrador tea and the carnivorous sundew.

How to get there

The easiest way is road 461 to Łubniany, then to Dąbrówka Łubniańska and Leśna street towards Łączysko — parking waits by the Studzionka wayside shrine from the 18th century, known for some 300 years for its miraculous water and standing on the blue trail. Entry to the dunes is free, although the area is subject to mining restrictions and a "no entry" sign; there is no fence.