Wigierski National Park

Wigierski National Park was created on January 1, 1989. The total area of the Park is 15,085 ha. Forests (63 %) and surface waters (19 %) cover the major part of its area. The closest tourist center is the town of Suwalki. Lake Wigry and its surroundings offer several popular kayaking routes.

Natural values

Wigry National Park encloses post-glacial areas, with a large number of lakes surrounded by vast and well-preserved forests. The northern part of the park entails the varied topography of the Suwalki Lakeland, while the flat southern part belongs to the Augustow Plain.

Singular aspects of this park include Lake Wigry (area of some 2,178 ha), which is largest among 42 lakes found in the park. Lake Wigry is S-shaped, with a twisting and predominantly forested shoreline. This beautiful lake and its interesting surroundings are wide open to all nature lovers including tourists and fishers as the clean waters, with a depth reaching 73 m, are rich in fish. Another interesting feature of the park is the presence of small brown-water lakes. These are lakes in different stages of eutrophication, and the overgrowing, floating moss gives rise to the brown color of lakes' water. The lakes are easily accessible from the nature trails maintained by the park rangers.

Vegetation

The forests contain many species including pine, spruce, oak, lime-tree, birch, grad, and alder swamp. Some 61 strictly protected species of flora may be found in the park.

Fauna

A major attraction of this park is its wolf and beaver populations (earlier reports of lynx sightings have not been confirmed in recent years). Unfortunately, wolves avoid man; only those who spend many hours patiently observing nature may spot them in the Wigierski National Park. There are over 200 species of birds living in the park, some of the rarest among them are swan, black stork, and white-tailed eagle. There are many fish species in clean waters and those include Coregonus albula, Coregonus lavaretus, Salmo trutta m. lacustris and Osmerus eperlanus.