Szczecin Landscape Park “Puszcza Bukowa”

Szczecin Landscape Park “Puszcza Bukowa” is the landscape park closest to Szczecin: it covers a large forest complex in the Beech Hills and the Kołowo, Binowo and Dobropole clearings. It was established in 1981, and its boundaries extend in part to the city of Szczecin and the municipalities of Stare Czarnowo and Gryfino.

Emerald Lake and surroundings

The most popular place in the park is Emerald Lake (Jezioro Szmaragdowe), formed when a chalk pit was flooded: on 16 July 1925, during mining work, a water-bearing layer was exposed, and the water took its colour from its high content of calcium carbonate. Next to it are the viewing clearings Widok and Słoneczna, with a panorama of Szczecin. A path and a yellow trail have been laid out around the lake, and families with children use them.

Trails and nature reserves

18 walking trails lead through the park, and near the lake begin, among others, the blue Wełtyń Plain Trail and the yellow Family Trail. All the reserves are open, but only along the marked trail. They include Bukowe Zdroje with a stronghold site from about the 10th century, Buczynowe Wąwozy and Kołowskie Parowy.

Arboretum, boulders and traces of old mines

In the south-eastern part of the forest lies the Arboretum in Glinna, open from 15 March to 30 September. In the forest stand some of the largest erratic boulders in West Pomerania, among them the Sightseers' Boulder with a girth of 17.5 m and the Heart Stone (Kamień Serce). West of the lake are former military buildings with underground rooms, which house an ecological education centre.

Practical information

• Seat of the park's manager: Kopalniana 2 in Szczecin.
• The underground rooms can be visited in summer by prior arrangement, and in winter they are closed because of bats.