Hiking The Dune Paradise

OVERVIEW

Follow a winding trail through ever-shifting sand dunes and pine forests to the oldest fishing village on the Curonian Peninsula. After ferrying to the peninsula, you will soon arrive at the Nagliai Nature Reserve on a long narrow spit of sandy land often called the Lithuanian Sahara. The wind constantly shapes and reshapes the terrain to such as extent that entire villages have been buried beneath the sand. The reserve’s stark natural beauty will be especially breathtaking and otherworldly as you pass through yawning ravines and the Dead Dunes, also known as the Gray Dunes for the sparse vegetation that lends them a grayish-silver hue. The trail eventually leads to Judokrante, a small seaside village that is one of the oldest settlements on the peninsula. There you will see a neo-gothic Lutheran church and a collection of painted weathervanes that mirror signs that fishing boats once had to display to identify their village of origin.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ride the ferry across a sheltered lagoon to the long, thin Curonian Peninsula.
• Follow a winding trail and wooden boardwalks through the Nagliai Nature Reserve.
• Walk through pine forests, ravines and shifting sand dunes much like those in a desert.
• Browse the oldest village on the peninsula and see its famed weathervanes.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.