It was going to be another hot, sunny weekend, so we followed our friend’s advice and went to the beach. Rather than go to the beach at nearby Ustka, we went Łeba, a town about 60 km east of us.
Łeba, the entrance to Słowiński National Park
In addition to being a seaside resort town, Łeba is also the eastern entrance to Słowiński National Park. The area that is now the park was once a bay, but over time sand dunes formed, creating lakes that are separate from the Baltic Sea. The sand dunes are said to be as high as 40 meters; we decided to see for ourselves.
Inside Słowiński National Park
The sand dunes are impressively high. The sand is fine with hardly any rocks or other aggregate. On the Baltic Sea side of the dunes, the beach is deep, long and unpopulated. On the land side of the park, the terrain is varied: lakes, peat bogs and pine forests. We took the well-developed hiking trail partway through the forest, then cut across to the beach before finally arriving at the dunes. It was about 5 km (3 miles) each way, but it was worth it.
I took a bunch of photos and hopefully they (and their captions) will give a better feel for the park and Łeba. Thanks for reading!
Take one of the electric carts to speedily cover the 5 km from the park entrance to the foot of the dunes, then climb the sandy slope for your first view of the dunes.
The dunes cover a large area and are a sensitive environment, so a rope fence guides visitors to the top of the tallest dune.
The deep, loose sand makes the climb to the top of the highest dune slow going. But it's worth the effort.
The dunes extend to the west.
In this east-facing view, the Baltic Sea is in the upper left and Lake Łebsko is in the upper right.
The sand dunes give way quickly to the forest which in turn gives way quickly to Lake Łebsko.
Cycling is a popular way to experience Słowiński National Park.
A bit of wind adds drama to this photographic setting.
This photo assistant isn't planting a conquering flag on the dunes, he's actually using the fabric to help block the hard sun from the model.
Where the dunes meet the forest the elevation changes significantly.
The area around the sand dunes is thick with pine trees.
The beach at Słowiński National Park is long, wide and not heavily used.
Poland's Baltic coast is usually windy, making it a great place to fly kites.
The wind-blown dune looks as if it might be boiling.
The wind and the setting sun on the dunes in Słowński National Park
A section of rope fence and shadows makes an abstract composition.
The sand on Łeba's beach is fine with very few rocks or other aggregate.
Łeba's beach is wide and long with very fine sand.
Betsy says
13-Jun-2018 at 18:04:09Scott, you are rockin those lavender pants! Glad to see you and Rosemary are still living the good life!
Scott says
13-Jun-2018 at 18:14:57I would look great in lavender 😉 but that’s Rosemary, not me. You can see my big foot on her right side.
Arthur says
14-Jun-2018 at 23:52:18Great photos. I appreciate getting to travel vicariously through your pictures. Pinch Rosemary for me.
Scott says
15-Jun-2018 at 08:59:58Thanks for reading. I hope all is well with you and that you are still ruling the racquetball courts with your “unArthurdox” style. Rosemary says “hi.”
Åsa Perbjörs says
26-Jun-2018 at 20:06:21It looks amazing!
Love Åsa
Scott says
26-Jun-2018 at 22:15:50It was! Poland is really very beautiful and we are having fun exploring it.