LOCATION
Natural monument – The Crooked Forest is located 40 km south of Szczecin in Nowe Czarnowo, in the Gryfino poviat. It is located west of the railway line Wrocław-Szczecin and road No. 31. A good landmark is the Dolna Odra Power Plant. To be able to see this peculiar natural monument with your own eyes, it is best to go to Gryfino. Following the pipeline, you can reach the village of Nowe Czarnowo. There you should use the red Oder River Trail that leads to the Crooked Forest. 53° 12′ 51”, 14° 28′ 34”
photo source: wikimedia commons.
ATTRACTIONS
At less than 2 ha, about 100 pines with characteristic bent trunks grow. There are many theories about the deformation of these pines. One of them talks about tanks, which supposedly traveled by young trees. Those frozen to the ground and after the thaw were revived in this form. Some people try to find out the action of extraterrestrial forces or disturbances of gravity. The theory of a special mechanical damage of young trees by man is closer to the truth.
The trees were planted in the 1930s. Thanks to the studies on the number of rings in the knots it is known that when they were about 7 years old, the top and side branches were damaged at a height of about 20 cm from the ground. This caused the only side branch to take over the role of the trunk. The natural pursuit of the vertical made this “new” trunk arched northwards at an angle of 90 ° and continued to grow vertically. The bends are from one to three meters in length. Pines are relatively low for their age, the highest ones do not exceed 15 m in height.
Such a tree could be used to build furniture, boats, sleighs, barrels, and maybe even harps. Unfortunately, the genesis of the Crooked Forest will rather remain a mystery. No information on this subject was found in any forestry documents, and foresters who planted these pines, they are dead.
INFORMATION SOURCES (links)
Heritage Class: [ C ]Cultural Heritage
Subclass [WH] :Waterfronts and traditional harbor areas
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