It was founded in 1967 and has an area of 32,744 hectares and is therefore one of the largest in the country. It has the status of a biosphere reserve. The park is located in the central section of the coast with the Baltic Sea as its northern border. Lake Lebsko is within the park as well as forests, bogs and Lake Gardno.

One of its greatest peculiarities are its large sand dunes which occupy a major portion of the park from the side of the sea. It is the largest area of wandering sands in Europe, having an area of around 500 hectares. This whole region is reminiscent of a sandy desert. Some of the dunes still continue to move in an easterly direction with speeds of up to 10m per year. The flora in the park is represented by 920 species of vascular plants, 165 species of bryophytes and 430 species of fungi.

The zonal arrangement of the vegetation is a characteristic of the park, which runs inland in parallel strips from the coast. In addition to two main tourist trails (northern and southern) there are many cognitive paths and trails running through the park.

Slowinski National Park (woj. Pomorskie)

www.slowinskipn.pl