Kampinos National Park Wild Nature and the Forest That Remembers

Nature & landscape

The dunes and marshes of Kampinos

During and after the last glaciation, river systems helped shape the broad Vistula valley and deposited extensive layers of sand. Wind moved the exposed sediment into belts of inland dunes. Many are now stabilised by forests, but sandy slopes remain visible on the trails.

Between the dunes lie lower, wetter areas: marshes, peatlands and damp woodland supporting plants and animals quite different from those on the dry ridges. Walking across soft sand is deceptively tiring, even where the hills are modest.

Historical drainage altered the forest’s water system. Conservation work now seeks to hold water in the landscape and restore damaged habitats. Kampinos is not a museum of untouched wilderness; it is a living environment being actively cared for.

Nature & wildlife

Wildlife — the forest’s quieter inhabitants

The park supports elk (łoś, called moose in North America), deer, wild boar, foxes, birds, amphibians and an abundance of smaller wildlife. The European elk appears on the park emblem. Reintroduction began in 1951, before Kampinos became a national park.

Don’t expect a wildlife safari. Most large mammals are shy, and sightings cannot be guaranteed. A rustle in the undergrowth, birdsong, a track in the sand or a patch of bilberries may be a more typical encounter.

Among the most interesting protected inhabitants are the bats, whose winter survival has given a former military installation a remarkable second life.

Cold War & conservation

From nuclear bunker to bat refuge — Łużowa Góra

Hidden in the forest at Łużowa Góra is the history of Complex 7215, a secret reserve command facility planned for Warsaw Pact leadership during a major conflict, including the possibility of nuclear war. Construction began in the 1960s, continued for more than two decades, and never fulfilled its intended operational role.

After the Cold War, the surviving installation was transferred to the national park. In 2017 above-ground structures were removed, parts of the sandy habitat were restored, and a surviving underground space was adapted to provide a winter hibernation refuge for bats.

The approximately 2 km educational route passes through the restored dune landscape, with sandy ground, steps and a boardwalk. It is not suitable for all mobility needs or pushchairs. The protected underground hibernation area is not open to visitors.

The Łuże dunes also carry memories of the Second World War: executions took place elsewhere in this forest landscape during German occupation. Different periods of history are layered onto the same ground.

Occupation & remembrance

The forest that remembers — Palmiry

It is affecting to encounter a war memorial on an otherwise peaceful forest walk. During the Second World War, parts of Kampinos became places of resistance, execution and clandestine burial. The best-known of these sites is Palmiry.

Mass executions in the forest

Before September 1939 the Palmiry area contained Polish Army ammunition depots. Under German occupation, the secluded forest became a killing ground. Prisoners — many brought from Warsaw’s Pawiak prison — were transported out of public sight, murdered and buried in concealed mass graves.

Between December 1939 and July 1941, German forces carried out 21 documented mass executions near Palmiry, murdering more than 1,700 people. The victims included political prisoners, Polish and Jewish civilians, intellectuals, clergy and members of the emerging resistance.

20–21 June 1940

The largest Palmiry execution took place over these two days, when more than 360 prisoners were murdered, including 82 women. Exact totals differ between historical accounts. Among those killed were Olympic champion Janusz Kusociński — who had volunteered in the defence of Warsaw in 1939 — former Sejm Marshal Maciej Rataj, and socialist politician Mieczysław Niedziałkowski. Their stories are a window into a much larger loss of individual lives.

How the graves came to light

The perpetrators tried to disguise the burial places, but forestry workers and others familiar with the area preserved knowledge of suspicious activity. After the war, exhumations recovered remains and personal possessions, helping identify some of the victims.

The cemetery-mausoleum, established in 1948, contains the remains of 2,115 victims recovered from sites in the Kampinos Forest and the nearby Chojnów woods. This is why the number buried here is higher than the documented Palmiry execution toll. Killings also occurred elsewhere in the forest, including near Wólka Węglowa, Laski and the Łuże dunes, continuing at other sites into 1943.

History & visitor information

Visiting Palmiry Memorial Museum

The Palmiry Memorial Museum (Muzeum – Miejsce Pamięci Palmiry), a branch of the Museum of Warsaw, stands beside the cemetery. Its exhibition uses historical photographs, correspondence, personal objects and material recovered during exhumations to tell the victims’ stories.

Outside, the cemetery’s ordered rows of graves and three monumental crosses form a quiet memorial landscape.

The Warsaw Uprising

Resistance in Kampinos

Alongside the terrible history of occupation terror, Kampinos provided shelter and operating space for the Polish underground. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, the Home Army formation known as Grupa Kampinos brought together local units and soldiers who reached the forest from elsewhere.

At its peak the force numbered approximately 2,700–3,000 soldiers, although estimates vary. For a time, insurgents controlled significant areas in the eastern and central forest, associated with the name Niepodległa Rzeczpospolita Kampinoska — the Independent Republic of Kampinos.

Their actions tied down German forces and attempted to support the struggle in Warsaw. The human cost was heavy. Soldiers died in battle, civilians suffered reprisals and communities endured occupation violence.

For another historical stop, the Granica visitor area includes educational facilities and a war cemetery associated with the Kampinos resistance story.

Choose your day out

Exploring Kampinos on foot and by bicycle

With more than 360 km of marked walking trails and around 200 km of cycling routes, Kampinos offers everything from short educational outings to long days in the forest. Deep sand, wet patches and occasional steep dune slopes can make distances harder than they look on paper.

These are separate access areas, not stages of one continuous route. For cycling, stay on permitted paths; deep sand makes some sections difficult, especially on narrow tyres.

Plan your visit

Before you go

Stay on designated routes, respect wildlife, and obey restrictions on fires, cycling and protected areas. Do not enter closed military structures or bat hibernation spaces. Consult the national park’s official information before setting off ↗.