:: Parks and reserves


The park of Bażantarnia

The history of Bażantarnia as a park and place of rest dates back to the beginnings of the 19th century. In 1802, August Abbeg started building a brick mansion. In connection with that investment, he received a permit to start a brickyard. At the same time, after dismantling municipal fortifications, the "living space" of Elbląg residents grew tremendously. Residents of our town began to discover new areas, and most importantly, it became interesting to them. The forest complex situated next to the town, with many canyons, paths, and streams, encouraged to walk. Finishing construction of the Gasthaus Vogelsand (now the Myśliwska restaurant) created conditions for a certain standard of rest in the newly-established municipal park.
In the second half of the 19th century, Abbeg's mansion was transformed into an inn with beds. The building was surrounded by an exclusive rest park. After increasing the usable area by building numerous terraces in the vicinity of the Vogelsang inn, the municipal park became the most willingly visited suburban area. However, the forest park was the largest part of Bażantarnia. That was the location of activity of the Vogelsangverein, the Vogelsang Forest Lovers Society. It operated under command of Carl Pudor, a well known author of guides and maps. The Society prepared new trip routes, gave names to interesting places, and built the park's infrastructure – bridges, umbrella roofs, and viewing towers.
Today's Bażantarnia as a forest complex is preserved without major destruction. Axes of the main walking routes may also be reconstituted. However, nothing was left of the old umbrella roofs, bridges, and viewing points. Enough said that there used to be 8 bridges over the Silver Stream [Srebrny Potok], and there is only one today. There were three viewing towers – one on the Belvedere hill, and two near Stagniewo. Today there are none.

The Elbląg forest – the "Bażantarnia" park, occupying an area of 369 ha, is the Elbląg residents' most willingly visited municipal green area. In order to facilitate tramping and see the most beautiful and charming corners of Bażantarnia, a decision was made in the early 1950's to mark tourist routes. At first (1951), it was done by scouts of the "Jaszczurek" squad. it was them who created most names valid in the area until today. Next, activists of the Polish Tourist Society, later referred to as Polish Tourist and Touring Society, the "Delta" Foot Tourist Club from Elbląg joined the action, under management of such well-known activists as Wojciech Zajchowski, Józef Bagiński, and Bolesław Kołtun. In the years 1951-1953, 9.7 km of walking routes was marked. In the following years, the network of tourist routes was expanded, and its current length is exactly 30.5 km.
Those are the following routes:

Red route, EL-06-c so called "Copernicus Route". In the area of the Bażantarnia Park, it is a fragment of the Copernicus Route connecting the Kujawy and Pomeranian Province, and further also Gardeja, Kwidzyn, Malbork, Elbląg, Frombork, Braniewo, Pieniężno, Mingajnym and then the Olsztyn Province where it continues. Moreover, it is also a fragment of the International Long-Distance Route "E-9", connecting in this area the Sailing Port in Elbląg, Frombork and Braniewo, where in front of the railway station its international nature and course ends.
The course of the route in Bażantarnia is quite easy in general, at places only slightly different, e.g. the climb up the Jagellonian Mountain [Góra Jagiellońska].
Here it starts at the Myśliwska restaurant, and then runs along the Silver Stream (the river Kumiela), next to the mostek Elewów and the Parasol, through the Jagellonian Mountain to the parking lot and camp site next to the gamekeeper's cottage in Dąbrowa.
The length of the route in this section is approx. 1.5 hours.

Blue route, EL-2101-n, so called "Circuit" – divided into the following two sections:
- blue route – "forest", referred to as easy, running from the Myśliwska restaurant, forest road, to Dąbrowa, and then to the Parasol, 3.6 km long – the average walking time approx. 1 hour.
- blue route – "mountains" defined as difficult, runs from the Parasol through numerous canyons, ravines, and hills through the People's Mountain [Góra Ludowa], the Evil Canyon [Czarci Jar], the Owl Mountain [Sowia Góra], Krystuna's Precipice [Urwisko Krystyny], to the Myśliwska restaurant where it ends.
The route is 4.5 km long, and the time needed to walk it is approx. 1 hour.

Green route, EL-2102-z, so called "Lizard path". Its beginning, like for other routes, is at the node of the routes, in front of the Myśliwska restaurant. Then, the route goes through numerous canyons and heights, through the Belvedere hill, and next the Parasol to Stagniewo where it ends at the coach (PKS) and bus (MZK) stop, on the Młynary – Elbląg road.
The length of the route is 7 km, and the average time to walk it approx. 2 hours.

Yellow route, EL-2104-y, so called "Circuitous". It has its beginning at the monument of nature, at the bridge over the river Kumiela (near the tramway line no. 2 end stop), in Marymoncka street. Going further next to the old mill through the 'mostek Elewów', and next to the Dębica cemetery, it ends in front of the Myśliwska restaurant.
The route is referred to as easy. Its length is 9 km, the average walking time is approx. 3 hours.
 
Walking routes, marked according to the scale of difficulty, give residents and "outsider" tourists visiting our city a possibility to tramp safely, without rambling the hummocky and partly wild area of the Bażantarnia park. And the plentiful equipment, in spite of common devastation, is systematically renovated by the PDiZ [road and green area maintenance company] end forest service staff, and they create possibilities of pleasant active weekend rest and recreation, through walks, bike trips, cross-country and long-distance runs, skiing and sledging sports, which is evidenced e.g. by the number of events and the number of walkers.