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The Yellow Trail – The Baranów County Loop

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Route description

The trail route runs through the Wieprz Ancient River Valley Protected Landscape, which is also part of the Lower Wieprz River Natura 2000 Special Protection Area in the Baranów County region. In this section the riverbed has preserved its natural strongly meandering character, accompanied by numerous oxbow lakes. The rich vegetation of the Wieprz Ancient River Valley has become a habitat for rare bird and animal species.

The trail enables you to relax in the natural environment and encounter pure nature, and at the same to explore interesting art of local potters.

 

The ride along the yellow trail around Baranów County begins in the village of Śniadówka. You can get there by following the blue connecting trail (that is 5.36 km long) from the green trail between Klementowice and Strzyżowice (at its 21 km at the crossroads in the forest you have to go straight on). Having reached the yellow trail, you turn right toward the visible Chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians. You pass by the chapel and then by a pond covered with reeds (at 0.38 km). You pass by the former milk depot building on the left, which remembers better times (at 0.58 km). You ride through the area that is as flat as a chopping board, so you can pay more attention to the old wooden houses featured in the village. It is possible that they still remember the tragic events of 1943, when the Nazi Germans burnt almost the entire village.

According to witness testimonies, a Nazi German patrol of military policemen came from Puławy to Śniadówka on October 23, 1943. They went into a random house, and as luck has it, they encountered three members of the Polish Peasants’ Battalions there. A shooting erupted and one Nazi German, three Polish partisans and three members of the household died. The Nazi Germans decided to take revenge for the death of their comrade, applying the rule of collective responsibility. They rode through the village in a truck and shot randomly. That day they killed the total of 17 people. They returned a week later with five Polish prisoners. They surrounded the village from three sides – from the direction of Żyrzyn, Michów and Baranów, rounding up all residents on their way. They also captured one partisan, who was forced to join the group of five prisoners. Before the eyes of all residents of Śniadówka, the Nazi Germans shot them to death at the crossroads. That same day, the village of Śniadówka was almost wiped out from the face of the earth. The Nazi Germans rode through the village and set houses on fire (40 farm households burnt down completely). They also stole everything that presented any value, including hens and ducks.

You pass by the elementary school (at 0.8 km), next to which stands a monument, erected in 2008, commemorating the victims of the Nazi German massacre. The Soldier Association of Polish Peasants’ Battalions takes care of the monument. You pass by a stork’s nest on the left (at 1.18 km) and after less than 100 m you turn left onto the gravel road. Behind the bend, you pass by a rather large red-painted rock (at 1.43 km). You ride on the field and sandy road meandering among the fields until you reach the birch coppice, behind which you turn right (at 2.10 km). Less than 300 m later you turn left at the crossroads and ride through a shallow ravine (at 2.9 km). The trail now runs along the forest on the very fine sand, which hinders the ride. 200 m later you turn right and reach the crossroads (at 3.46 km). According to the signposts, you are 14.4 km away from Baranów. You pass by a large, white and blue roadside shrine and an adjacent wooden cross. 70 m later, at another crossroads, you make a left turn into the pine forest (at 3.53 km). You proceed straight on through the forest until you reach the asphalt road about 1.1 km later, where the trail turns left (at 4.63 km).

It is worth turning right for a while in order to reach in about 200 m the grave of the fighters in the January Uprising. In order to reach the grave, you first ride to the right for 100 m on the asphalt road, then continue for another 100 m on the forest path parallel to the main road. Riding along the path, you reach a magnificent marble obelisk dating from 2007, which is a mass grave of seven insurgents who most likely fell in the Battle of Żyrzyn on August 8, 1863, and were buried in the forest near Łukawka.

You reach the village of Gródek less than 900 m later. You go straight on at the intersection (at 5.59 km). A rest area for cyclists is located 200 m later on the left, near the former school building. You leave Gródek and ride through the forest (at 7 km). You can see a hunting blind in the distance on the left (at 7.5 km), but you continue straight on among the alder trees. After about 1.3 km you reach the village of Zagóźdź. A rather deep ravine runs parallel to the main road on the right. A pretty large orange roadside shrine is located at the intersection with the road toward Baranów (at 8.97 km). This is where the yellow trail turns toward Baranów (which is 6 km away), whereas the black trail that starts here proceeds straight on in the direction of the village of Składów at the Wieprz River.

About 100 m away from the intersection to the right stands a wooden watermill on the Bylina River (a left-tributary to the Wieprz River). A sluice damming up the water and a small pond are adjacent to the mill. The watermill in Zagoźdź was established in 1946 as one of seven such mills in the region, built in the stead of the mills destroyed during the war. It was made entirely of wood. At present, it is a private property. You can obtain there a stamp of the Bicycle Land at the Amber Trail Greenways.

You turn left at the roadside shrine and after 160 m leave Zagóźdź (at 9.13 km). All the time you continue straight on, along the pine forest on the left, which you gradually leave behind. You pass by a beautiful roadside shrine with a large statue of the Crucified Jesus Christ (at 10.25 km). You then pass by a pretty, recently built wooden house on the left (at 10.88 km), and a stork’s nest (at 10.97 km) and the sawmill in Dębczyn (at 11.09 km) on the right. Behind the village, you ride on the main road through the forest for a longer while, until you reach the intersection, where the right turn of the asphalt road becomes a gravel road, which then turns into a field road (at 13.98 km). The yellow trail joins the black trail here and the two overlap for the stretch of 0.85 km. You continue straight on at the field crossroads (at 14.45 km), and turn left at another crossroad (at 14.83 km). This is where the trails part ways (the black trail turns right). After 50 m you arrive at the observation point over one of the meandering bends of the Wieprz River.

At the river, you can watch abundant waterfowl that finds ideal living conditions on this territory. The area is a nesting site for the Grebes, Corn Crakes, Remizes, Common Kestrels, Mute Swans, and Marsh-Harriers. You also encounter here such mammals as otters, European pond turtles and beavers. The Wieprz River is abundant in fish, too.

You ride straight on at the crossroads (at 14.96 km) and gradually leave the river behind. You have fields on your left, and reeds, canes and bulrushes on your right. It is easy to encounter storks here. You ride along the dike between the bulrushes and thickets. The slender outline of the Parish Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Sobieszyn is visible in the distance on the right (at 15.24 km). After less than 200 m you pass by a picturesque pond on the right (at 15.42 km) covered with reeds, duckweeds and yellow water lilies. From now on, you leave the reeds behind and ride among the meadows where you will most certainly see hunting marsh harriers. You can also sometimes encounter cranes and herons in the vicinity.

The trail, running along the path leading among the meadows interlaced with osiers, turns left (at 15.63 km), and 300 m later it turns right at the signpost. You are surrounded by a complete wilderness, swampy meadows and marshes. The area may be hardly passable during the periods of increased rainfall. After about 500 m the first arable plots appear among the meadows, and the road turns into a gravel road. You ride on the gravel road until you reach the main road and turn left (at 16.67 km). 100 m later you pass by a splendid yellow roadside shrine and a pond (at 16.85 km), behind which you enter Baranów riding along Błotna Street. You can obtain subsequent stamps from the Bicycle Land at the Amber Trail Greenways either in the County Culture Centre (ul. Rynek 14), or in the historical church, located on the left hand side of the Market Square.

The Baroque Church of John the Baptist was erected in the years 1764–81 and most likely designed by architect Józef Gringenberg. Bishop Jan Kanty Lenczowski consecrated the church in 1779. It is a one-nave late Baroque church with a semi-circular (barrel) vaults. The chancel features two sacristies. The church elevation is richly moulded and the church interior boasts seven Baroque altars. The high altar is ornamented with the painting of Madonna of Częstochowa with Child and the image of St. John the Baptist (on the valve). The side altars feature images of Our Lady, St. Anthony and St. Paul (on the left hand side) and paintings representing St. Bartholomew, Peter the Apostle and the scene of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The church also boasts many 18th-century sculptures: the figures of Jesus and four Evangelists are placed on the pulpit, and the sculptures of little angels and prophets ornament the main and side altars. The church also features a 1908 Hartman organ with ten ranks.

You turn right behind the church into Puławska Street (at 17.39 km) and you soon pass by the beautifully renovated historical building of the County Kindergarten in Baranów on the right (at 17.54 km). It is a historical building that was associated with the once large local Jewish community. The Orthodox Jewish residents of Baranów used the building for ritual ablutions.

Mikvah, or a Jewish ritual bathhouse, was erected in Baranów in 1930. After the Second World War, the building housed a storage room for animal fodder. For a short period of time, it was also used as a private apartment. In the years 1955–76, it housed a labour ward, and after 1976 – a kindergarten. It is one of few remnants of the once large Jewish community of Baranów. After the Nazi Germans took over the village in September of 1939, the Jews were not immediately subjected to special repressions. It was only in the autumn of 1941 that the Nazi occupants issued numerous restrictions for the Jews, concerning the freedom of movement around the village, among others. In 1940 about 300 Jews were resettled from Puławy, Łodź and Warsaw to Baranów. In the winter of 1942, 500 out of about 1,900 Jews residing here were deported to various work camps. Those who remained were transported to the extermination camp in Sobibór on May 8, 1942. During the war occupation, the Nazi Germans destroyed the synagogue and the cemetery.

Several old prewar houses – typical examples of Polish provincial architecture of old – have been preserved until the present times in Baranów and are worth noting.

You turn right at the intersection from Puławska Street into Tartaczna Street (at 17.80 km) and after about a kilometre you enter the village of Motoga (at 18.92 km). You can see a small sky-blue roadside shrine on the left (at 19.17 km). The blue trail that connects with the green trail from Klementowice to Strzyżowice (Strzyżowice is 7 km away) starts in about 150 m. You can get to the village of Wilczanka, through Motoga and Pogonów, following the connecting trail that is 3.53 km long.

But you turn left near the signpost, leaving the asphalt road for the field road (at 19.32 km). After 1.1 km you can see in the distance on the left the Fruit and Vegetable Processing Plant in Baranów. Having passed by a pond covered with duckweed (at 20.48 km), you continue straight on. You reach the forest wall riding through the meadow (at 20.62 km) and turn right, leaving the processing plant behind you. You enter the forest (at 20.7 km), turn left on a clearing 100 m later, and go straight on at the forest crossroads (at 20.97 km). You cross the main road (at 21.3 km) and again ride straight on through the forest. You ride through a beautiful pine forest with the undergrowth consisting of hazel, young oak and juniper trees. You have to watch out for tree twigs that lash the cyclists on the faces, shoulders and legs. You turn left at the fork road (at 21.97 km) and ride through two small clearings. You pass by an anthill on the left (at 22.35 km) and enter a real lily of the valley field. The view is truly splendid in May, when lilies of the valley are in blossom. All the time you ride straight on, until you reach the tree with a sign indicating a left turn (at 22.91 km). You proceed straight on at the two subsequent crossroads (at 23.01 and 23.18 km), from now on riding on a much wider and more comfortable road.

You exit the forest (at 23.49 km) and continue straight on, passing by a birch coppice (at 23.58 km) and three hunting blinds. You turn right behind the last hunting blind (at 23.89 km) into the forest. You pass by a very original and characteristic birch tree – it grows vertically at first and then bends sideways at a right angle and then goes up again. En route you can also encounter cords of wood waiting for transportation. After almost a one-kilometre-long ride among the trees you turn left (at 24.81 km) and exit the forest.

This is where the yellow trail joins the black trail for the last time, and they overlap on the stretch of over 1.65 km. You continue straight on for about 400 m, passing by a few birch coppices. When you see a hunting blind on the left, you enter the forest again (at 25.27 km). You turn right at a small clearing (at 25.44 km) and after 170 m you exit the forest onto the main road (at 25.61 km). You turn left in the direction of the village of Niwa. After about one kilometre you continue straight on at the intersection (at 26.55 km), while the black trail turns left. In Niwa you pass by a blue cross on the right (at 27.15 km) and a stork’s nest (at 27.25 km), and a small pond on the other side of the road. The main road initially turns right after about 500 m (at 27.75 km), and then it turns left (at 28.15 km). You pass by a clump of birch trees on the right (at 28.28 km) and after about 1.1 km you make a right turn (at 29.39 km). You pass by a splendid white and blue roadside shrine on the left (at 29.61 km) and you reach the place where you started the ride.

 

Czytaj dalej

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User coverages

  • 2014-08-29 21:29:56
    silnik
    W miejscowości Motoga przed zjechaniem z asfaltu w polną drogę warto pojechać kilkanaście metrów dalej asfaltem ( w stronę Pogonowa) na stary most a raczej jego pozostałości.
    Uwaga na szlaku występuje odcinek piaszczysty ale nie ma co się nim zrażać jest do pokonania i otoczenie tego odcinaka jest bardzo przyjemne. W miejscowości Karczunek na rozwidleniu dróg należy pojechać w lewo tam jest oznakowanie ale przednim wyrosło niewielkie drzewo i je całkowicie zasłania a droga sugeruje jechać na wprost - taka uwaga ;) i jeszcze jedno na odcinku przy Wieprzu uważajcie bo może być ten odcinek zalany nawet w słoneczne lipcowe dni, nie poprzedzone żadnymi ulewami o czym informuje tablica a ja osobiście się o tym przekonałem po 100m (tylko na czarnym szlaku) brnięcia przez rozlewisko i braku na horyzoncie suchego lądu zawróciłem. Tak czy inaczej są to uroki, które jeszcze bardziej podnoszą atrakcyjność tego szlaku. GORĄCO POLECAM i jestem ciekaw waszych opinii Pozdrawiam :)

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  • marble obelisk

    Type: Another monument

     

    It is worth turning right for a while in order to reach in about 200 m the grave of the fighters in the January Uprising. In order to reach the grave, you first ride to the right for 100 m on...

  • Mikvah

    Type: Another monument

     

    Mikvah, or a Jewish ritual bathhouse, was erected in Baranów in 1930. After the Second World War, the building housed a storage room for animal fodder. For a short period of time, it...

  • The Baroque Church of John the Baptist

    Type: Church

     

    The Baroque Church of John the Baptist was erected in the years 1764–81 and most likely designed by architect Józef Gringenberg. Bishop Jan Kanty Lenczowski consecrated the church...

  • Wooden watermill

    Type: Another monument

     

    About 100 m away from the intersection to the right stands a wooden watermill on the Bylina River (a left-tributary to the Wieprz River). A sluice damming up the water and a small pond are...

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  • 2014-08-29 21:27:08
    4
    silnik
    Bardzo fajny szlak 4,5* z całą pewnością klasyfikuje go w pierwszej trójce szlaków Krainy Rowerowej. Więcej w SPRAWOZDANIU.

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Informations

  • Length: 29.79 km
  • Route type: yellow trail
  • Difficulty level: 3,5
  • Average rating: 4
  • Ratings count: 1
  • Completed times: 2

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