The Land of a Thousand Lakes is not only a paradise for sailors, there are also more and more diverse cycle routes around attractively planned trails.
Węgorzewo is a great place for setting off on your adventure. During one day you can find a lot of attractions nearby. You can cycle to Borecka Primeval Forest to see the biggest, wild mammals in Europe – European bison which live wild in the forest and also in a special enclosure. You can also go on a bike trip to Leśniewo and Piaski (Guja) to see the remains of the incomplete project of the Masurian Canal which was originally planned to connect the Masurian lakes with the Baltic sea.
One bike route deserves more detailed description than the others. You can set off from Węgorzewo or other towns on the loop and do a round-about trip that takes you back to where you started. The entire route is 48 km long with 1/3 of the route on specially designed bicycle paths. After leaving Węgorzewo the route takes you through Ogonki to Pozezdrze.
At the edge of the town you can go one kilometre off the bike route to see a World War cemetery on high Shooter Hill [Wzgórze Strzelców] at Lake Święcajty. After 11 kms you reach Pozedrze where at the village boundary, in the forest on the eastern side of the road are located the ruins of Himmler’s war headquarters which bore the code name ‘Hochwald’.
You go further west towards Sztynort with a chance to visit an interesting church in Pozezdrze. After a few km on an easy, flat road we reach the dyke created by Lake Mamry then you cross the bridge over Lake Mamry. The view is breathtaking! A little tit-bit of information – the surroundings of Lake Mamry was the setting for the Nile river in the masterpiece of world cinematography – the film entitled Pharaoh by Aleksander Ford.
After Pozezdrze on you go to Sztynort with its big yacht shipyard and Lendorf Palace towering over the town. Lendorf Palace was a place where was plotted an attempt on Hitler’s life in nearby Gierłoż in 1944. We recommend a short break as the further route is a bit hilly and it will demand more effort . It is a good idea to do so because there are more interesting attractions to visit along the way. The bunkers of the former headquarters of the German Land forces are situated on both sides of the road in Mamerki. They survived as the Germans did not have the time to blow them up. Part of the headquarter on the west side of the road was called Brigitte town. Apart from the bunkers there is a 40 m steel tower where you can enjoy the view.
From Mamerki we go on towards a road junction, near the fork in the road between Przystań and Trygort, you have another chance to relax with nice views. Further on you reach the Green Velo route and after a few km, you close the loop in Węgorzewo and you probably won’t regret having toured around Lake Mamry – the second biggest lake in Poland.
Marian Jurak
