Kampinos National Park has been created on 16 January 1959 thanks to the efforts of Jadwiga and Roman Kobendz. It is located in the Central Mazovian Plain, between the left bank of the Vistula River and the Bzura River, just outside the north-western outskirts of Warsaw. The Park area is 38 544 ha.
Kampinos National Park is home to the fauna of the Polish plains. It is estimated that half, or about 16,500 native animal species, may occur here. More than 3,000 species have been documented so far, which indicates that the fauna of this area is relatively poorly studied.
Within the Park boundaries, there are vast areas of the Kampinos Forest, located in the Vistula proglacial valley.
The great diversity of habitats results in over 50 plant communities. It consists of about 1400 species of vascular plants, 115 species of bryophytes, and 146 species of lichen.
There are 66 tree species and 70 shrub species in the park, of which 33 tree species and 46 shrub species are native.
Additional information:
– hiking trails (about 550 km in total),
– classicist manor house from the early 19th century in Kampinos,
– museum devoted to the composer Frederic Chopin in Żelazowa Wola,
– Education Centre of Kampinos National Park in Izabelin,
– European Bison Breeding Center in Smardzewice,
– museum of Narrow-gauge Railway in Sochaczew,
– a Gothic-Renaissance church of defensive character from the mid-16th century in Brochów,
– an open-air museum of wilderness architecture in Granica.