Rūdninkai forest is one of the forests in Lithuania least affected by civilisation, and it is one of the largest forest areas in the southeast of the country.
One of the most unusual places in the forest is the continental dune formation. The history of these ‘dunes’ in the middle of the forest is rather grim: the exposed sand dune was created by constant fires and bombardment, because during the Soviet era there was a training ground for military pilots there. Locals say that in the 1980s a fighter plane crashed at the Rūdninkai landfill during an exercise, with the loss of the pilot’s life. After Lithuania regained its independence, bomb disposal experts worked in the landfill area for over ten years defusing unexploded bombs. The area has now been declared a geo-ecologically significant landfill in the Rūdninkai Forest Biosphere Reserve.
A journey to the Rūdninkai Forest Biosphere Reserve landfill leaves visitors with strong impressions: the relief formed by the bomb explosions, the absolute peace, the ringing silence, and the spreading wilderness. Whole areas in the middle of the forest are overgrown with spindly trees and lichen, and endless stretches of heather, not to mention the dunes, the sand of which has never been washed by the sea. It is certainly worth making the trip there.
This article is a part of a project implemented within the framework of the Innovation of Tourism Services and Products Program, with funding from the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology, and from funds allocated by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania.
