Saidė Nature Trail

Length: 1 km. The cornerstones of this short nature trail are the majestic Stirniai hillfort and the rocky confluence of the Saidė and the Neris. Standing where the two rivers meet and looking at the huge mossy boulders in the water, the steep slopes of the stream valley and the giant trees, it's easy to feel as if you weren't in Lithuania at all. Scenery like this isn't typical of our country – it's more reminiscent of Scandinavia. Yet this short stream, the Saidė, only 5 km long, babbles merrily over the stones scattered along its bed as it carries its water from the historic Trakai lakes to the mother of Lithuanian rivers, the Neris. The story of the hillfort is interesting too. Although there had long been tales of a castle standing on the hill by the Saidė in the Middle Ages, Stirniai hillfort was only discovered in 1995. It was spotted by chance by the well-known naturalist Prof. R. Kazlauskas, who found a bowl-shaped stone resembling a sacrificial altar at the foot of the hill and began looking for traces of the people who once lived here. Although the hillfort has still not been thoroughly studied by archaeologists, the remains of its fortifications suggest it was inhabited about 1,500 years ago.