Lithuania's largest national park, protecting the primeval forests and inland dunes of the Dainava region
Dzūkija National Park
Dzūkija National Park is Lithuania's largest and most ecologically significant protected area, established in 1991 to preserve the extraordinary natural and cultural heritage of the Dainava region in the country's southeastern corner. Located approximately 100 kilometers southwest of Vilnius and 100 kilometers south of Kaunas, the park encompasses a vast landscape of ancient pine forests, extensive wetlands, inland dune systems, and river valleys carved by the Nemunas River and its tributaries. The park protects the largest contiguous forest area in Lithuania, where forests cover approximately 85% of the territory, predominantly consisting of pine-dominated woodlands with birch, spruce, and alder in lower-lying areas. The park's most distinctive geographical features are the remarkable inland dune massifs rising from the sandy plains around Marcinkonys, Lynežeris, Grybaulia, and Šunupis, remnants of the last Ice Age that now support unique heathland and lichen communities. The park belongs to both the Association of Baltic National Parks and the Federation of European National Parks, and since 2011 has been part of the prestigious PAN Parks network, representing the only Lithuanian member of this European wilderness preservation initiative.
