Pomorskie hikes: Mirachowo Loop, where nature meets the history (hiking tourism)

The Mirachowo Forests, is a vast forest complex located in the northern part of the Kashuby Landscape Park. These picturesque forests contain extremely valuable natural areas, among which peat bogs and marsh forests stand out. Also worthy of special attention are the numerous lakes, forest ponds and streams flowing between the surrounding hills.

The unique values ​​of these areas are protected in nine nature reserves, some of which were established as early as 1916. Most of the area of ​​the local forests has been included in the European Nature 2000 network thanks to the Special Bird Protection Area “Mirachowo Forests”, covering almost the entire forest complex, and three Special Areas of Habitat Protection.

Mirachowo Loop – one hike, two options!

In this article, we propose a hike along a 15 km loop, which will take you about 4 hours to complete at a leisurely pace.

Although the route is rather easy and quite comfortable, there will be a few short but steep climbs along the way – so it is worth taking trekking poles with you.

Below is the course of the full loop:

If necessary, we can easily shorten it to a loop surrounding Lubygosc Lake and touching on the Lechicka Ridge. In this option, the route is 7 km long and takes about 2 hours to complete (we recommend this option to parents who want to take smaller children on the trip).

In this option, the route looks like this:

The whole route leads along comfortable forest paths, in places overlapping with the Kashuby Trail. Along the way, we will pass numerous signs informing about the distance to the next attractions and helping with navigation.

Caves and stones, or geological curiosities for the beginning

The start and finish line of the march will be the Mirachowo Forester’s Lodge. There is a parking lot right next to the forester’s lodge, and a bit behind it, in a large clearing, we will find a tourist station. It consists of: numerous tourist shelters ideal for preparing a meal, a place to light a bonfire, a tap with running water, and two public toilets (additionally equipped with sinks with access to water).

We cover the first meters of the trip along a wide, paved fire road, which very quickly takes us to the borders of the “Lubygosc” nature reserve, and then to the shore of the lake of the same name. Here, at the fork in the paths, we will find one of several directional stones waiting for us on the trail. They indicate the direction and distance to the attractions and curiosities described on them.

At this point, we can briefly deviate from the planned route and follow the red trail, the Kashuby trail, north to the “Zurawie Blota” nature reserve.

Less than 3 kilometres from here, on the shore of Kamienne Lake, we will find the Devil’s Stone – one of the largest erratic boulders in Pomorskie (circumference 17 m, height 3 m, length 5 m). However, this attraction is worth devoting a separate trip to.

Keeping on our route, at the fork we choose the path running to the left, along the shore of the lake. After a while we reach the Mirachowo Caves – unusual, conglomerate geological formations, which are the remains of a small sand and gravel quarry on the northern edge of the lake. Their depth varies between 3 and 6 meters. The upper layers of exposed gravel conglomerate are a uniform plate supported by columns.

Caution! The caves are located on a still eroding substrate, and therefore pose a potential risk of collapse – they should be viewed without crossing the protective barrier.

Bunkers and "crevices", or history and nature among the trees

A few hundred meters further on there is another fork. We choose the path that turns right, climbing the hillside. At its top we will find a reconstruction of the TOW Gryf Pomorski Bunker “Ptasia Wola”, where local partisans hid during World War II. Their heroic fight and tragic fate are commemorated by a cross and an information board.

Continuing along the path on the edge of the hill, we reach the “Szczelina Lechicka” viewpoint. The word “szczelina” in this case refers not to rocky clefts, but to the narrowing of the valley above which we are now. The sloping natural terrace, from which there is a view of the “Szczelina Lechicka” nature reserve lying below and the wooden benches located here, is an ideal place for the first, longer stop.

From here, for the next 5 kilometers, until the next viewpoint, our route will overlap with the Kashuby Trail, marked in red. This section, leading largely along the shore of Potegowskie Lake, delights and captivates with its beauty. Finally, it leads us to the foot of Zamkowa Gora – a hill with a wooden viewing platform at the top. Standing on it, we will see the small town of Kamienicki Mlyn and the  Biale Lake and Junno Lake surrounding it.

From this point to the finish line, there are only 6 kilometers left. Half of this distance is taken up by a road through the forest, leading towards the meeting point of the “Szczelina Lechicka” and “Lubygosc” reserves. After reaching it, we rejoin the Kashuby Trail, which we follow (along the lake shore) until we reach the connection with the fire road, where we started our hike. From here, only a few steps separate us from the finish line at the tourist station.

Attractions on the trail

• “Lubygosc” Nature Reserve
• “Szczelina Lechicka” Nature Reserve
• Mirachowskie Caves
• “Ptasia Wola” TOW Gryf Pomorski Bunker
• “Szczelina Lechicka” Viewpoint
•  “Zamkowa Góra” Viewpoint

Attractions nearby:

• “Zurawie Blota” Nature Reserve and the Devil’s Rock
• “Kurze Grzedy” Nature Reserve

Below you will find the course of the Wejherowski Trail on our Komoot profile and a GPX file with the course of the route to download (two variants):

Download

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Check out other Pomeranian hikes:

Pomorskie hikes: Poddabie and the surrounding area (hiking)

Pomorskie hikes: Wejherowo Trail (hiking