Bielinek Nature Reserve

Bielinek is a forest nature reserve on the slopes of the Oder valley, in the municipality of Cedynia, within Cedynia Landscape Park. It covers 76.21 ha and protects forest-steppe communities with Poland's only site of the downy oak.

The downy oak and steppe vegetation

The reserve was created in 1957, but protection of the area goes back further: in 1927 it was placed under temporary protection, and a week later it was declared the Naturschutzgebiet Bellinchen a. d. Oder. The landscape park describes it as one of the most valuable reserves in Poland. The downy oak, a species known from the Mediterranean basin, grows here thanks to the microclimate of the south-facing slope, where the temperature in summer reaches 70°C.

Alongside the oak there are xerothermic grasslands and scrub, thermophilous oak woods, slope riparian forests and beech woods. Rare plant species include the purple cow-wheat, the German false-brome, the German tamarisk and the dwarf cherry. Among insects the park lists the great capricorn beetle and the six-spot burnet moth; on the sunlit slopes sand lizards and green lizards bask, and white-tailed eagles, red kites and peregrine falcons circle above the reserve.

Two routes through the reserve

The Landscape Parks Complex proposes two routes. The easy one begins by road no. 125 from Cedynia towards Bielinek: you turn towards Markocin, and the entrance to the reserve is by a memorial boulder. A forest path leads gently uphill, following the signposts, and after a dozen or so minutes reaches a shelter on the slope, from which the Cedynia Lowlands can be seen. The park recommends it to older people and families with children.

The harder route is about 8 km and takes about 4 hours. It begins at the PKS bus stop at the start of the Markocin Ravine, runs along the edge of the reserve to the pumping station near Bielinek and passes further ravines: Brekiniowy, Świetlisty, Wiązowy and Paklonowy, as well as the Borsucza and Akacjowa valleys. It ends in the Storczykowy Ravine. This is a trip for fit people, with many climbs.

Practical information

• Location: near the village of Bielinek, in the municipality of Cedynia.
• Nature protection rules apply in the reserve: keep to the marked paths and do not pick plants.
• In the village of Bielinek, about 1.3 km from the reserve, stands St Barbara's Church.
• Current information on access and signposting is provided by the Landscape Parks Complex of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.