Dates:
May 16-18, 2025 (Friday – Sunday)
June 27-29, 2025 (Friday – Sunday)
July 11-13, 2025 (Friday – Sunday)
Program:
The routes of the 3 or 4-day weekend ride lead through the most interesting natural and cultural areas of the Knyszyn Forest. Each day we embark on a horseback expedition from the picturesque Załuki located in the middle of the Knyszyn Forest on the Supraśl River. Our hiking destinations include the Bison Farm in Kopna Góra, Wyżary Reservoir with Sculpture Gallery, Jeleni Mostek and Wierszalin, and the Świętojańskie Hills. All routes also pass through places associated with the 19th-century struggle of Poles for independence: the November Uprising and especially the January Uprising.
In addition to great riding routes, delicious Podlasie cuisine, and the inseparable “Spirit of the Forest” in Podlasie, we would like to offer you the opportunity to participate in a local event on each of the weekend rides. The villages and settlements of the Knyszyn Forest are famous for the fact that each of them has at least once a year its own festival, where in addition to the residents, visiting guests also have a great time. Such events as “Sabantuy” in Kruszyniany, “Siebrauskaja Biesieda” in Gródek, “Kupalnoczka” in Zasady, or “Potańcówka na Anny” in Królowy Most and many others already have an established reputation. We hope you will have a great time until the early morning. And then? Then, of course, back on the horse and conquering the Świętojańskie Hills, which are always the last day of our ride.
Day 1: Arrival at Załuki and accommodation at 2-3 PM.
Route: Załuki – Turowo – Wyżary Reservoir – Radunin – Załuki. Length of the route: about 21 km.
The Knyszyn Forest is mainly forests, but… near the village of Radunin, deep in the forest, there is a “lake,” specifically the Wyżary reservoir. Despite its beauty, the reservoir is not a gift of nature; it was created by humans and has served both fire-fighting and recreational purposes since 1970. An educational trail runs around the reservoir.
Following the trail deeper into the forest, we reach the boardwalks over the marshes – the floodplain of the Radulinka River. This place is simply magical… Directly behind the boardwalk, in 2017, a forest sculpture gallery was created. The authors of the sculptures are students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and members of the Nowolipie Group, who are people with multiple sclerosis who, as part of therapy under the artistic care of Paweł Althamer, created these unique sculptures.
The “January Uprising Trail” passes through here and leads through the forest to the place where one of the largest battles in the Białystok region took place on April 29, 1863, in Komotowszczyzna, Pięciosy sanctuary.
Day 2:
Route: Załuki – Kondycja – Łaźnie – Kopna Góra – Lipowy Most – Załuki. Length of the route: 40 km.
Long, sandy trails among pine forests, ideal for galloping, are a big attraction of this route.
But undoubtedly its greatest asset is the rest in Kopna Góra, at the Bison Show Farm. In addition to the Bison Farm, there is also an Arboretum in Kopna Góra presenting trees, shrubs, and flowers from all over Europe in our climate zone; a cemetery of November Uprising insurgents who died during the battle over Sokołda in 1831; a small museum of the November Uprising and other Polish independence uprisings. But these are attractions for another stay in the Knyszyn Forest and Kopna Góra. We leave the horses at rest and go to see the bison.
The construction of the bison show farm in Kopna Góra began in 2019. At the beginning of 2024, the tourist attraction was made available to visitors. Four bison from different farms have already settled in the farm. There is also the first calf. Eventually, there are to be several of them here. The farm was built on a large, natural area. Visitors can admire the animals while walking along fenced paths and watching them from one of two observation towers. One of them allows for observing the animals during feeding. Interestingly, the animals can also move under the paths. There are tunnels-passages built under them, facilitating the bison’s crossing.
Day 3:
Route: Załuki – Nowosiolki – St. Anne’s Hill – Królowy Most – Jakubin – Załuki. Length of the route: about 20 km.
The Świętojańskie Hills are the highest moraine hills in the Knyszyn Forest. Relative heights reach up to 80 m, with slopes up to 30 degrees (steep slopes of the hills). Ahead of us: St. Anne’s Hill (202 m above sea level) with a place commemorating the January Uprising insurgents of 1863, Mount Kopna (211 m above sea level) with an observation tower, and Mount John (214 m above sea level).
On that day, an unforgettable gallop awaits us, a very long but fairly gentle climb up the hill. The climax of our effort is a short stop at the observation tower located on Góra Kopna with a breathtaking view of the endless forest “sea.” And if there are still mists… Then a descent down a very steep slope, which we overcome on foot with the horse in hand, to reach Królowy Most, famous among other things from the series of films “At the Lord’s in…” There is an opportunity to go to the cinema for the fourth part of the cult Polish comedy entitled, of course, “At the Lord’s in Królowy Most.”
We return to Załuki through Jakubin, a place that today is just a spot on the map and where we can only see the ruins of the Jakub Sakowicz estate.
Price:
1980,00 PLN
Reservation link: https://lisowczycy.pl/produkt/podlasie-w-weekend/