Western Lake Districts Route - Stage VI [Szczecinek - Miastko]

Stage VI: Szczecinek - Biały Bór - Miastko [79 km]

Between Szczecinek and Miastko, the route is passable.

This section is almost surrounded by the Szczecineckie Lake District, the fifth on our route. In Szczecinek, it is a good idea to stop at the Pomeranian Dukes Castle. Although it may not look like an old stronghold, the oldest wing comes from the 15th century. After renovation, the building serves as a conference center, but you can try the cuisine in its restaurant or watch it from the intriguing, two-storey, circular pier. Water trams stop here, and if someone wants to take a break from cycling for a moment, right next to it is the longest water ski lift in Europe.

Leaving Szczecinek by local road, we will pass the Pomeranian Wall fortifications, headed by B-Werk - one of the largest bunkers in the entire fortification system. Going further, we can stray a few kilometers to see Nature Reserve "Bagno Kusowo" - the best-preserved dome bog in Poland. The swamp, covered with swamp forests and peat bogs, can be viewed up close thanks to wooden footbridges.

The last town in zachodniopomorskie on the trail is "little Ukraine", that is, Biały Bór, also surrounded by the fortifications of the Pomeranian Wall. Ukrainians were resettled here from the south of Poland in 1947. The town, almost completely destroyed during the war, underwent a complete population exchange. 1/3 of the new settlers were Ukrainian. Many of them settled in nearby villages. It is not surprising then that Biały Bór became the center of Ukrainian culture. Their cultural identity survived communism and is blossoming today. At the entrance of the school with the Ukrainian language, there is a monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. However, the most intriguing sight of the city is the Greek Catholic church designed by Jerzy Nowosielski, one of the greatest Polish artists of the 20th century. The shape and interior of the church do not resemble a traditional temple in any way. The artist planned the building as a painting - his life's work. The visitors have the impression of being inside a work of art. If you are to see just one temple in Poland, make it this one.

Right next to Biały Bór, the Pomeranian Sand Mountain is located 245 m above sea level, heaped with 8 million tons of sand from the extraction of mineral aggregate. Just six kilometers further is Góra Krajoznawców (247.5 m above sea level). There is no trail leading to it, especially a bicycle one, but because it is right next to the border of the voivodeship, we can symbolically consider it the end of the Western Lake Districts Route