My plan was to give you guys the play by play of why the trees in the small forest in Gryfino are crooked. I’m sorry but I can’t tell you because no one knows the real reason. But that only makes this place even more fascinating and awesome to visit. We made sure to find the place and to check it out!

Finding the coolest place in Poland

The place is located near Gryfino town. There are signs that show you how to get here but be careful – the gravel road leading up to the forest is really bad. When we got there we couldn’t drive there due to huge potholes and a bad road. But there is a parking right after the sign. We believe that this is parking for the locals living in the buildings. However, when we parked our motorhome here we got the thumbs up from a local. Not sure if he meant that we were ok to park there or whether he liked our home :). Oh well. I stayed in the motorhome and Mini went to see how far it was to the forest.

Needless to say, the crooked forest is right behind the parking so you can leave your car and walk over there. There is no entrance fee, no music welcoming to this crazy and awesome place. I’m sure that they could’ve charged an entrance fee here and people would still flock to see what nature has created!

Crooked Forest, Gryfino, Poland

There are about 100 pine trees that are crocked. What makes this even weirder is that there are straight pine trees that surround the crooked once. There is a sign (only in Polish) that give you more information about the trees. I was sure that there was an explanation to why the trees are crooked and way to impressed by the trees than to read the information. A quick picture of the sign and I would get all the information and explanation later – or so I thought.
The crooked pine trees were planted around 1930 when this part of Poland was German. The trees bend sharply to the north just above ground level. Then they curve back upright after a sideways excursion of 1 – 3 meters. It looks cool and unreal. I even had to touch one tree to make sure that it was real.

The mystery of the crooked forest

There is so much mystery surrounding the forest. You can almost feel it in the air. It’s like a regular forest and then inside the forest, there are about 100 trees that have changed the ways trees are supposed to grow. And the fact that no one can say with certainty how this phenomenon came to happen makes it even cooler! I have looked and looked online to find the reason but there are only different theories of the crooked trees, or Krzywy Las, as this place is known by in Poland.

I’m sorry that I can’t provide you with any insight into the phenomenon but here are some of the theories I found while researching:

Why are the trees crooked?

1. Gravitation went bananas – Fluctuations in gravitational forces made the trees grow like this. This theory is quite bizarre since gravity pulls objects down and not sideways. There is no evidence for this theory but some people believe that this is what happened here.
2. Heavy snow and long slow melt – At first this was one thing that Mini speculated in while we were visiting the pine forest. If there was lots of snow that covered the trees and they still continued to grow their shape might have become crooked. But on the other side – If this theory is the real one – how come that all the other trees surrounding the crooked once are not crooked? Was the snow just in that particular spot? Not likely if you ask me.
3. Blame it on the War – During the WWII there were tanks that run the trees over and damaged them. When they continued to grow – they turned out crooked due to the damage. Not likely if you ask me. First off I think that the trees would’ve died and second… how come that the tanks only drew over that part of the forest? Not likely if you ask me.
4. They are man-made – The most likely explanation. This would make sense given the fact that the trees are very consistent. The thought is that the local farmers planted and manipulated the trees for use as a construction material. For example for pieces of furniture or, more likely, shipbuilding. Not sure how they were manipulated but Mini seems to think so too.

No matter what reason it is for the trees to be crooked this place as awesome! And who knows… the trees might be made by aliens.

Finally lost at Crooked forest! We loved it!