Drawa: the wild river of Drawa National Park

The Drawa - the wild river of Drawa National Park

The Drawa is one of the most beautiful and cleanest lowland rivers in Poland, and for many paddlers a river of near-cult status. It runs 185.9 km from the Drawsko Lake District to the Noteć, through a chain of lakes and a deep, wooded valley, and in its middle course it cuts across Drawa National Park. Although it is a lowland river, it has a lively, at times almost mountain character: a fast current, rapids and a narrow, winding channel where fallen trees can lie. Paddling through the park is regulated, because the valley's nature is among the most precious in the country.

The Drawa route: where it runs and how to split it

The upper Drawa runs through the chain of lakes in the Drawsko Lake District, including the broad Drawsko and Dębno. The middle and lower stretch - from around Prostynia and Drawno, through Drawa National Park and Stare Osieczno down to the mouth near Krzyż - is the classic, most-paddled part of the trail, easily split into day-long stages of 15-25 km. One important note: the section from the road bridge on the Drawsko Pomorskie-Kalisz Pomorski route to Prostynia is completely closed to paddling, because it runs through the Drawsko military range. You therefore plan the route below that section.

How long does paddling the Drawa take? Which stretches for a single day

For a single day, people usually pick the gentler lower stretches. The Stare Osieczno-Krzyż stretch (about 23 km) is calm, wide and safe water, good for a few hours of paddling. A little more varied is Stare Osieczno-Łokacz (about 21 km), with the odd fallen tree and an easy rapid, but still friendly to the less experienced. Anyone who wants to see the wildest part of the river plans a multi-day trip through Drawa National Park; paddling most of the trail takes several days with camping stops.

Is the Drawa hard? Who the trail is for

The Drawa is sometimes called a river with an almost mountain character on the lowlands. In its middle course, especially within the park, the current speeds up over rapids, the channel is narrow and winding, and fallen trunks lie in the water - this stretch is for people with experience and sound technique. The lower course, from Stare Osieczno towards Krzyż, is by then wide, calm and open to beginners and families too. As on most rivers, whether the trip is enjoyable comes down to matching the stretch to the group's level.

Drawa National Park: the rules for paddling

The most precious part of the Drawa is protected by Drawa National Park, and here paddling is regulated. Within the park the river is open only from 1 January to 15 March and from 1 July to 31 December, between 9:00 and 19:00 - from 16 March to 30 June there is a ban on paddling, protecting the birds' breeding and the fish spawning. At the same time, no more than 750 people may be on the river within the park at once, only paddle-powered craft are allowed, and you must buy a ticket in advance, through the bilety.dpn.pl platform or at tourist information points. You may camp only at the park's designated sites, among them Drawnik, Barnimie, Bogdanka, Sitnica, at Pstrąg and in Kamienna.

Obstacles and portages on the Drawa

The Drawa is a living, forest river, so you have to reckon with rapids, weirs and fallen trees - in places the kayak has to be carried. A handy exception is the Barnimie-Bogdanka stretch, free of artificial obstacles, where you paddle without portages. Remember, too, that the military-range area between the Drawsko Pomorskie-Kalisz Pomorski bridge and Prostynia is closed to all traffic and you must not enter it. At every obstacle the same rule applies: carry the kayak round, rather than trying to take it through a weir or over a fallen tree.

What you'll see along the way: the nature of the Drawa

The Drawa valley is one of the wildest corners of lowland Poland, protected since 1990 by Drawa National Park. The park now covers more than 11,500 hectares and stretches across the borders of three voivodeships - West Pomeranian, Lubusz and Greater Poland - along the Drawa and its tributary the Płociczna. Here the river runs through a deeply cut trough among beech woods, and its clean, well-oxygenated water is home to trout, grayling and vimba. The park protects around twenty lakes, including rare lobelia lakes and the meromictic Lake Czarne, whose water never mixes to the bottom - one of only a handful of such lakes in Poland. The park's emblem is the otter; beavers and kingfishers also live along the water, and the park shelters more than 130 bird species, the white-tailed eagle included. The oldest beech woods are protected by the renowned Radęcin reserve. This is a landscape for which a Drawa trip is planned in advance and treated with respect - for the nature and for the living current.

Where to rent a kayak and how to get back

The Drawa is well served by rentals and trip operators, working among other places in Drawno, Stare Osieczno, Krzyż and around Czaplinek and Stare Drawsko on the upper river. They usually deliver the kit to the put-in and collect it from the take-out, which on a linear trail makes the logistics and the return much easier. Along the way you sleep mostly at campsites and the park's designated spots - it is worth booking them in advance, especially in the holidays, when a daily visitor limit applies.

When to paddle: water level and season

The paddling season on the Drawa in practice begins when the park section opens, that is from 1 July, and lasts through the summer and into early autumn. The Drawa is a relatively stable river, fed by lakes, so it rarely runs short of water, but before you set off it is still worth checking the current level at the nearest gauge: a high level speeds up an already lively current and floods the rapids, while a low one exposes stones and shallows. It is most pleasant to paddle at a settled, medium water level.

See the trail on the interactive map Click to load the map with the route drawn in