Białowieża National Park

About this place

Białowieża National Park is a forest reserve in Podlaskie Voivodeship in eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus, about 66 km southeast of Białystok and 199 km east of Warsaw in a straight line. It protects the best-preserved part of the Białowieża Forest, the last remnant of the temperate primeval forest that once covered the European plain. The park covers about 105 square kilometres and is Poland's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, which extends across the border into Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park in Belarus. It is home to the world's largest herd of European bison, the continent's heaviest land animal, along with wild boar, elk, wolves and lynx. In the strictly protected zone giant oaks and limes hundreds of years old stand tall, and dead trees are left where they fall, covered in moss and fungi. Green light filters through the leaves to the forest floor, and a boardwalk threads between the trunks. Visitors may enter the strictly protected zone only with a licensed guide, while other trails and the bison show reserve are open. Some parts of the forest near the Belarus border lie in a restricted-access zone, so check locally which trails are open before you visit.