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A FORESTAL NATURE PATH IN THE VALLEY OF WAPIENICA

November 29th, 2023

The valley of Wapienica is one of favourite spots for walks of both the citizens of Bielsko-Biała and the tourists. The people are drawn to that place by the wonderful views, as well as the bike and pedestrian paths. The terrain is surrounded with picturesque Beskid ridges leading towards the valley through their foresty slopes. Easy and accessible for everyone trails go from there to Dębowiec, Szyndzielnia and Błatnia. Less experienced tourists can finish their adventure with the Beskids in the valley itself, that the main point of is a water dam named after Ignacy Mościcki, and one of the attractions is an educational nature path, which was opened in the first days of July 2021.

The path in the form of a four-kilometre loop starts by the foresty parking at the junction of Tartaczna and Dębowiec streets in Bielsko-Biala. Then, it leads upwards, and right before the water dam it goes through a footbridge to the other side of the river, where it leads through a dirt road back to the parking lot. Along the path there are 12 educational points devoted to topics regarding natural richness of the Beskids and Polish forests. The content included on them will spark interest not only among the youngest hikers. Thanks to the boards one will get to know and understand the behaviour of certain forest animals, learn to differentiate various tree species and become familiar with basic rules of forest economy.

By the entrance to the trail a typhlographic plan of the area was placed, which will help orientate in the terrain to people with visual impairment. All the other educational points were adjusted to these people’s needs. It happens through a system of YourWay transmitters. To use the system, you need a mobile phone with the YourWay app on it. You can download it for free for both Android and iOS. To simplify the navigation, QR codes leading to the site you can download the app from were placed on the typhlographic plan along with other boards. User of the app - when approaching each point - will receive a signal through the phone vibrating, and then the educational content of the specific point will be read out loud.

The originator of the project is the Local Tourist Organisation ‘The Beskids’. Its realisation wouldn’t be possible without the cooperation with Bielsko Forest District and the club of the Polish Association of the Blind in Bielsko-Biala as well as financial support from the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.

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