Tour de Zielona

• We recommend this route for summer or autumn when the trees are ablaze with colors.
• It is worth bringing mosquito spray and a mosquito net, as they can make camping unpleasant, depending on the season.
• Ferries are free, but they do not work when the water level in the Odra River is too low; you can check it before your trip at zdw.zgora.pl.
• Near the villages, you have to watch out for dogs that sometimes run into the road. Usually, they’re harmless, but they can be startling.

• The areas around Kamieńskie and Cieche lakes are designated by the state forests as part of the “sleep in the forest” program, where you can legally camp.
• The program regulations and a detailed map of places can be found at lasy.gov.pl.

• There is no problem with food and drink during the tour. Almost every village on the way has a shop where you can pay by card.
• The only section that poses a lack of options is between Krosno Odrzańskie and Sycowice, which is without a shop, and you have to remember to do shopping in Krosno for dinner and breakfast while camping.

Day 1

You’l start your adventure at the railway station in Zielona Góra. It is worth refilling water bottles in the shop at the station, because the next opportunity to do so will be in about 20 kilometers. Leave the city safely on a smooth bicycle path. After a few kilometers, when the path turns into a gravel highway, you’ll have to go left at a small green metropolis. Gravel winds through beautifully fragrant pine forests, which, although quite dense, do not protect well against the sun’s rays. On a sunny day, it is worth taking a hat or cap. You’ll pass the small Sudoł village and follow the road signs along the unpaved, slightly bumpy road to Leśniów Wielki. Passing this village, you enter the yellow trail, which leads to the village of Laski. There, you can visit the ruins of the railway viaduct and the restored Manor Park or just sit on a bench under the pear tree behind the shop. There’s a bottle opener attached, so relax and have a bite to eat and drink. You can also replenish your water supplies here. The road to Krosno Odrzańskie is still the yellow trail, which connects to the slightly better-marked blue trail.

From there, go through Ciemnice and Połupin, then pedal along beautiful gravel and unpaved roads between forest hills and ravines, from which small streams flow down in the spring after the thaw. There are also, especially in the summer, local sandpits, but nothing stands in the way of continuing our journey by bike or a little hike-a-bike. Pine forests are mixed with splendid beech stands.

When you get to Krosno Odrzańskie, you’ll cross the Oder River by a bridge and see a nice church, monuments, and after entering the Millennium Park, a beautiful panorama of the Oder Valley. Krosno Odrzańskie is also the last option for shopping before camping. Leave Krosno along the bicycle path and, near the bathing beach, turn into a forest road leading to Lake Kamieńskie. This is where you can look for a place to camp. The areas around Kamieńskie and Cieche lakes are designated by the state forests as part of the “sleep in the forest” program, so you can legally camp. If you want to spend some nice time admiring the stars through the tree branches, you can pitch a tent or hang a hammock by Lake Kamieńskie. If you want to swim, Lake Ciche with a small beach will be a good choice.

Day 2

On the second day, after a successful campout, you return to Zielona Góra. Forest and gravel roads await again. Before Sycowice you’ll pass a bison farm. With any luck, they will graze by the fence near our road. The rest of the road through Nietkowice and Bródki is smooth asphalt. You reach the village of Brody, where a ferry across the Oder awaits. If you’re hungry at this stage, you can pedal straight towards Pomorsko, where there’s a small pizzeria. You can eat it on site or take it to go and have a feast near the lake in Brzezie. After the meal, return to Pomorsko and cross the river in this village, also by ferry (ferries are free, but in dry summer you need to check if they run). Just a small driveway behind the village of Wysokie, and after a few kilometers, you’ll end your adventure back in Zielona Góra.