Rawka: a river protected as a reserve from source to mouth

Rawka – a river protected as a reserve from source to mouth

The Rawka is about 97 km long and flows into the Bzura between Łowicz and Sochaczew. It rises a few kilometres east of Koluszki, passes Rawa Mazowiecka, brushes past Skierniewice and runs through Bolimów, and its basin covers almost 1,200 km². On the map of western Mazovia it looks unremarkable, yet it is one of the most interesting lowland rivers in this part of the country – and one of the most strictly protected.

The Rawka nature reserve, established in 1983, protects the river along its whole length, from its source to its mouth on the Bzura. Protection covers the channel together with ten-metre strips of land along the banks, the oxbows and the lower reaches of four right-bank tributaries. The aim is to preserve in a natural state a typical medium-sized lowland river together with the landscape of its valley. The reason is simple: the Rawka is one of the few rivers in this part of Poland with a natural, meandering character, with bends, cut-off oxbows, islets and sandy bars.

In the nature reserve, paddling is permitted only on designated waters and routes, and paddling the Rawka requires a prior permit for an exemption from the prohibitions in force in the reserve, issued by the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Łódź. This also applies when only part of the route passes through the protected area. Trip organisers usually have this sorted – if you paddle on your own, you have to see to it yourself.

Where the Rawka rises and where it flows

The classic trail runs from Rawa Mazowiecka to Kęszyce and is 63 km long, which makes for a trip of three or four days or several separate day trips. Around Rawa Mazowiecka the river is most heavily altered, its channel regulated. The lower you go, the more it returns to its natural shape.

The stretch from Ruda to Bolimów runs through the Bolimów Forest and is reckoned the prettiest and at the same time the hardest part of the river. There the river winds beneath the banks, flows into the woods and changes width every moment, while the branches of the trees from both banks meet above it in a green tunnel.

Fallen trees, weirs and hydro plants – what to expect on the water

The Rawka is a lowland river with a not very strong current, but with over a dozen water structures and a great many fallen trees in the channel. There are no rapids here, but every few hundred metres you have to get around something, squeeze through or get out. The obstacles themselves are not too hard to pass and so are not dangerous – it is their number that tires you. The classification says the same: technically easy, ZWB, but a nuisance level of 3-4 on a five-point scale.

There are over a dozen hard obstacles. Weirs stand at Żydomice and Kurzeszyn, at Suliszew the mill weirs survive, and lower down a weir waits at Budy Grabskie and a water-damming weir at Joachimów-Mogiły. At the railway bridge in Rawka, roughly halfway along the route, a sill of Larssen piles sits in the channel. On the lower section four hydro plants operate: at Kamion, Bolimów, Podsokołów and Kęszyce. You will have to carry the kayak around the bank several times, and at the dams it is not worth taking shortcuts.

On top of that come the fallen trees. On a natural, meandering river they appear and disappear from season to season, so no description can replace good sense on the spot. Before you set off it is worth checking the current water level, and viewing the whole course on the interactive trail map.

The reserve and the Bolimów Landscape Park

Protection covers not only the water. The reserve includes the oxbows, the adjoining strips of land and the mouth sections of three forest tributaries, in order to protect the river as a whole rather than just the ribbon of the current. The aim is to preserve a typical medium-sized lowland river together with the landscape of its valley.

In practice this also means that camping, going ashore outside designated spots and noise are out of place here, and some of the banks are simply closed to traffic. The Bolimów Landscape Park, through which the river flows from Stara Rawa to Bolimów, also holds extensive pine forests and heaths with a network of walking and cycling trails.

Stretches of the Rawka trip: from Rawa Mazowiecka to Kęszyce

The trail divides into four stages. Rawa Mazowiecka-Suliszew, about 25 km, is the most altered part, with weirs at Żydomice and Kurzeszyn. Suliszew-Budy Grabskie, about 16 km, leads into the Bolimów Landscape Park and passes the hydro plant at Kamion and the sill of Larssen piles. Budy Grabskie-Bolimów, about 12 km, is the heart of the park and the prettiest part of the route, with the weir at Joachimów-Mogiły. Bolimów-Kęszyce, about 9 km, closes the trail with two hydro plants before the mouth on the Bzura. You can see all the stretches on the map below. And if you would rather plan the trip your own way, you can set your own route in "Your own way" mode.

The Rawka is not a river for beginners or families with children, and that is how the voivodeship describes it too. It calls for fitness, technique and patience with obstacles, plus the formalities of the permit. For a calm first trip in this area the Bzura, into which the Rawka flows, is better suited.

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

Towns and villages along the Rawka

The trip begins in Rawa Mazowiecka, a town with the ruins of the castle of the Mazovian dukes and Baroque churches. Along the way you pass Suliszew with the remains of its mills, Budy Grabskie on the edge of the Bolimów Landscape Park and Bolimów – a former town, now a village, known for its pottery and for the nearby First World War battlefields. The route ends in Kęszyce, near the mouth of the Rawka on the Bzura.