Czapielówka Reservoir in Czarna Białostocka

The Czapielówka reservoir lies in a forest clearing right next to Czarna Białostocka, and it was created almost entirely by community effort: for nearly 10 years local residents, foresters and soldiers worked on it together. Today it serves as a bathing spot, a fishing lake and a walking loop among the woods of the Knyszyn Forest, popular with people from nearby Białystok as well.

History: a pond built by the whole town

The idea came after the war. The neighbouring villages of Czarna Wieś-Stacja and Czarna Wieś Kościelna had been badly damaged in the fighting, and during reconstruction – and the building of a precision engineering factory in the forest – water began to run short. Engineers Jerzy Terlecki and Kazimierz Błahuszewski proposed a large pond. It was first planned at the end of Młynowa and Marszałkowska streets, but experts warned that water would not hold there, so the dam was built on the Czapielówka river instead, where a footbridge once linked Czarna Białostocka with Czarna Wieś Kościelna.

On 20 May 1971 a Community Committee for Building the Reservoir was set up, chaired by Terlecki. Residents, the forestry district and the army all took part, and the handover protocol was signed on 3 June 1981. A 3.5-metre-wide wooden pier built by an army unit served for more than two decades; after its reconstruction in 2004 it covered more than 2,170 m² and hosted events such as a festival of humorous borderland folk songs.

What to see and do

From 2016 the reservoir was transformed again. Projects aimed at protecting Natura 2000 sites and the Knyszyn Forest Landscape Park added:

• a promenade pier with a wooden rain shelter by the stage and a floating pier in the bathing area,
• three floating fishing piers,
• an observation tower, cycle paths and shared walking and driving routes around the water,
• fire pits, rest areas, educational boards and toilets.

Anglers fish for pike, zander, perch, grass carp, tench, carp, bream and crucian carp, among others. Three marked trails meet at the reservoir: the Podlasie Folk Crafts Trail, the red cycle route from Czarna Białostocka to Janów and the blue "Queen Bona" walking trail.

Tripto tip

The bathing area is seasonal – the municipality publishes water-quality notices on its website, so check them before a summer trip. Out of season the reservoir makes a quiet place for a stroll: the loop around the water takes less than an hour, and the observation tower gives the best view of how the lake cuts into the forest. A fishing permit is required for angling.