Lake Gopło: by kayak to the Mouse Tower, with respect for the reserve

Gopło – narrow, long and shallow

Gopło stretches across Kuyavia in a narrow ribbon: 2,154 hectares in area with an average depth of barely 3.6 metres. At its widest, at Szerzawy, it is two and a half kilometres across; at its narrowest, under fifty metres. It is deepest near Przewóz, where the bottom drops to just under seventeen metres. The shoreline runs to about ninety kilometres and shifts with the water level.

Drainage works carried out in the second half of the 19th century lowered the lake's surface by more than three metres, and Gopło today serves as a retention reservoir. As a result it has one of the highest average annual water-level amplitudes in the country - of the order of several dozen centimetres.

Where you may paddle on Gopło

A large part of the lake lies within the Nadgoplański Park Tysiąclecia nature reserve, and within a reserve the law forbids swimming and boating except on the waters or trails designated by the body that established the reserve. Such a navigable trail has been designated on Gopło by a separate ordinance - and it is along this trail that traffic moves within the reserve's boundaries.

The reserve's protection plan goes further: it designates no areas made available for tourism, recreation or sport, and it excludes the West Bay (Zatoka Zachodnia) from water tourism outright. Sailing descriptions also mention the Bay of Five Islands (Zatoka Pięciu Wysp), branching south off the main trail, where the use of any watercraft is forbidden. In practice this means that on Gopło you paddle along the trail, not freely across the water, and you do not venture into the reedbeds or side bays.

It is worth confirming its exact course and width with the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ) in Bydgoszcz or with local rentals. On the water the trail is marked with buoys.

Why these restrictions?

The reason is birds. The reserve was established to protect the wetland ecosystem, and above all the birdlife, and it is the birds that set the rules. The protection documents say plainly that using the lake for water sports - including those without a motor - may, during the breeding season, flush and disturb the birds, and even cause their death. Nesting here are, among others, the bittern, the little bittern, the greylag goose, the crane and the common tern.

There is, however, no seasonal closure of the lake to kayaks. The restriction is spatial, not calendar-based - it is about where you paddle, not when. The greatest courtesy to the birds is therefore to keep well clear of the reeds.

Kruszwica and the Mouse Tower from the water

Kruszwica lies at the northern end of the lake, and it is from here that most trips begin. The Mouse Tower (Mysia Wieża) stands over the water - brick, octagonal, over thirty metres tall, raised around 1350 through the foundation of Casimir the Great, on the site of an older stone tower. Since the late 19th century it has been a viewpoint; in good weather you can see Inowrocław and Strzelno from it.

It is to this tower that the legend of Popiel, eaten by mice, has attached itself. The tale is set, however, in times some four hundred years earlier than the walls you look at today. That does not diminish the sight - the tower seen from the water, from the low perspective of a kayak, looks magical.

Safety: squalls, the ferry and shallows

Gopło is long and shallow, and that combination makes a difference in bad weather. Local lifeguards point to squalls, strong wave action and lightning as the main hazards.

There is also traffic on the lake that a kayaker might not expect. Gopło has the status of an inland waterway; excursion boats sail on it, and a ferry crosses the lake - daily from early morning to late evening. The ferry is a cable ferry and moves along two steel cables stretched across the trail, so it is not enough to give way to it: you have to know where those cables are and not pass too close. In summer, in the area of the Rzępowo Peninsula, a regatta course is added, and during rowing competitions the trail is sometimes closed off with a buoy. Watch the markers too: the buoys can be shifted by the wind, and straying off the trail ends in a shallow or in breaching the protected zone.

A separate warning concerns the shore in Kruszwica: a spot known as Dzikus on Nadgoplańska Street is used for jumping into the water, which - given the shallow depth there - is genuinely dangerous. Before you set off, check the current water level.

Where to put in and where to start

The base is Kruszwica: there is a sailing marina with jetties and a slipway on the lake, and in summer a guarded swimming area on the Rzępowo Peninsula. Renting a kayak here is harder than at other lakes, though - there is no company on Gopło running an open rental with its own, up-to-date website. It is best to bring your own kayak or arrange gear together with your accommodation. There are also places to get down to the water at Łagiewniki, on Leśna Street, at Racice, Popowo, Mietlica and Połajewo - though some of these are narrow descents between the reeds, with no car access.

Gopło connects with the Noteć and the Upper Noteć Canal, so it is a link in the Great Loop of Wielkopolska. For a kayaker that means one thing: you can arrive here and leave by water, not just circle the lake.

See the area on the interactive map Click to load the map - routes on the lake, shorelines and weather

How to paddle a kayak on Gopło? More carefully than on an ordinary lake. A large part of the water lies in a nature reserve, and there paddling is allowed only along the designated navigable trail, marked with buoys; the West Bay is excluded from water tourism. The reason is birds - keep well clear of the reedbeds. Confirm the trail's course before your trip with the RDOŚ in Bydgoszcz or with a local rental.