Błędowska Desert: a desert in Poland?

Po polsku: Pustynia Błędowska

A desert in Poland? Yes, really. The Błędowska Desert (Pustynia Błędowska) is the largest area of drifting sand in the country, about 32 to 33 km² in size. It lies northwest of Kraków, around Olkusz and Klucze, on the border of two uplands, the Silesian Upland and the Olkusz Upland. It is protected under Natura 2000 and is a lovely place for walking, cycling and horse riding.

Where is the Błędowska Desert?

The desert stretches from Błędów, a district of the town of Dąbrowa Górnicza, in the west to the municipality of Klucze in the east. The village of Chechło marks its northern edge. To the south it borders a large forest.

It is just under 10 km long and up to 4 km wide. The river Biała Przemsza flows through it from west to east.

How did a desert appear here?

The sand itself is fluvioglacial, which means it comes from glacial times. But the desert as you see it today is largely the work of people.

Intense activity by local residents lowered the groundwater level so much that plants could no longer grow. At the same time, forests were heavily cut down for mining and metalworking, which have been developing here since the Middle Ages. Together, this exposed about 150 km² of sand.

Today’s desert is what is left of that so-called Great Błędowska Desert. Two other remnants are the Starczynowska Desert west of Olkusz, which is now almost completely overgrown, and the Dziadowskie Morze (Grandfathers’ Sea) near Bór Biskupi, in the Bukowno area.

In the 1950s part of the desert was ploughed and planted with Caspian willow and pine. Together with a rising groundwater level, this greatly reduced the area of bare sand.

What is in the sand?

The sand is made of fine quartz grains, and the layer is about 40 m thick on average. In it you can often find pieces of limestone and Jurassic fossils washed out of the ground, such as sponges, brachiopods and bivalves. There are also many fragments of other rocks, often polished to a shine by the sand.

One special curiosity is the fulgurite: a small lump of mineral formed when lightning melts the sand.

Keeping the desert open

Today the desert is being protected from becoming overgrown. From 2010 a programme called „Ochrona mozaiki siedlisk przyrodniczych w zlewni rzeki Białej Przemszy” (Protecting the mosaic of natural habitats in the Biała Przemsza basin) ran here. It marked out a nature trail and cleared the area of unexploded ordnance.

Between 2011 and 2014, in a LIFE+ project, trees and shrubs were cut on about 400 ha in the southern part. In the following years the northern part was uncovered too.

In 2025 the Velo Pustynia route opened, with footbridges over the Biała Przemsza valley. Thanks to it you can walk or cycle around the desert without wading through sand.

Walking, cycling and riding

Błędów is linked with Klucze by the yellow „Szlak Pustynny” (Desert Trail). The same two places are also joined by the orange horse-riding route, the „Transjurajski Szlak Konny” (Trans-Jurassic Horse Trail).

My tip: sand gets everywhere, so wear shoes you do not mind getting dusty, and bring water and sun protection. There is very little shade on open sand.

Two curiosities

According to accounts from the early 20th century, mirages were seen over the Błędowska Desert. Today, now that the sands have partly become overgrown, the phenomenon is no longer recorded.

For decades the desert also served the army as a training ground (poligon), and its northern part is still a military area. Please read the next section carefully before you go.

More guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska