Bieszczady National Park

The wild kingdom of lynx

przewiń dalej

Bieszczady National Park

The southernmost protected corner of Poland is the Bieszczady National Park. It covers the highest part of the Bieszczady Mountains, with charming montane meadows. The high-mountain vegetation present here, characteristic of the Eastern Carpathians, has no equivalent in any other Polish mountains. Also, the upper limit of the forest, shaped by crooked beeches, has no equivalent. On the montane meadows, we can meet beds of rowan trees and green alder but there is no mountain pine here. The Bieszczady forests, dominated by beech forest turning reddish in autumn, seem to be wild, but in fact the Bieszczady Mountains are full of traces of the past human presence. These areas used to be densely populated in the past. Today, the relics of abandoned villages are used by wild animals, e.g. bears, which are willing to use the fruit of wild apple trees, and their population in the Bieszczady Mountains is the most numerous one in the country. The largest mammals of Europe, European bison, were reintroduced here in the 60s of the 20th century. Currently, it is the only place in Poland where bears and European bison have a chance to meet, although they rarely “get in each other’s way”.

Our logo

The Carpathian population of lynx is the most numerous one in Poland (about 90 - 100 individuals), that is why this predator has become a symbol of the Bieszczady National Park. Lynx find ideal living conditions here: forests and river valleys provide them with a shelter and a food base. The basis of the lynx’s diet are roe deer and deer calves, they also hunt smaller animals such as birds or hares. The threat to these felids is the development of transport and tourist infrastructure, as well as the culling of the main source of the diet, i.e. roe deer. The species has been placed in the Red List of Endangered Species for the Carpathians. It has been covered by strict species protection and monitoring of the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Białowieża.

What is worth visiting?

Ecological Education Centre

and BdNP Museum of Natural History +48 13 461 10 91

ul. Bełska 7, 38-700 Ustrzyki Dolne PLN 16/PLN 8

From 15.11 to 15.04

Tue-Sat: 08.00-16.00 Guide’s service mandatory for organised groups

From 16.04 to 14.11 up to 25 persons – PLN 35

Tue-Sat: 09.00-17.00

From July to August

Sun: 09.00-14.00

Exclusive of 1 and 6, Easter, Corpus Christi, 15 August, 1 and 11 November and 25 and 26 December.

Field Ecological Education Station in Wołosate

and educational garden

Wołosate 7, 38-713 Lutowiska +48 13 461 10 91

The subject and date of activities should be agreed with the Ecological Education Unit edukacja@bdpn.pl

Field Ecological Education Station in Suche Rzeki

Suche Rzeki near Zatwarnica, 38-713 Lutowiska +48 13 461 10 91

The subject and date of activities should

be agreed with the Ecological Education Unit edukacja@bdpn.pl

BdNP Tourist Information and Education Centre +48 13 461 03 50

in Lutowiska

Lutowiska 2, 38-713 Lutowiska

Mon-Fri: 07.30-15.30

Tourist Information Point and Educational Room

at the parking lot in Wołosate+48 13 461 03 50

Wołosate (BdNP parking lot)

In the tourist season

Tue-Sat: 14.00-17.00

Hucul Horse Conservation Stud in Wołosate

+48 72 475 00 31 zhkh@bdpn.pl

Horse riding centre in Tarnawa Niżna

+48 12 312 05 78 Reservations must be agreed in person or by phone

Prices, phone numbers and opening hours of the individual facilities may change. Prior to visiting, please check their up-to-date status on the Park’s website.