Šilpelkė Forest Nature Trail

In Salantai Regional Park, at one of the most impressive bends of the Minija river, where the Dauginčiai or Šilpelkė forest rustles, a nature walking trail about 1.5 km long was completed in 2014. On the Šilpelkė forest nature trail you'll see and learn about the ecosystem of the Minija valley near Dyburiai and the habitats of European importance found there. The trail was built precisely for this purpose, and to avoid or reduce the negative impact of visitor flows on the valuable habitats of European importance here. The natural, self-sown Šilpelkė forest, whose origins go back to the earliest prehistoric times, is also rich in cultural heritage. One example is Dauginčiai hillfort, also called Pilalė or Moon Hill. It got the latter name from a crescent-shaped mound in its south-eastern part. It is Dauginčiai hillfort that greets everyone who comes to the Šilpelkė nature trail. Leave your vehicle at the rest area by the old Dauginčiai village cemetery and follow the signs. Past the majestic Dauginčiai hillfort, the trail winds along an old forest track and invites you to enjoy the scents and sounds of the forest. Soon you'll reach one of the most impressive cliffs on the Minija – the Dauginčiai outcrop. Outcrops of all sizes are plentiful along the whole river, but the view of the Minija valley from the Dauginčiai outcrop is one of the most impressive. No wonder locals also call this area the Lithuanian Switzerland. And perhaps you'll spot a bird species listed in the Lithuanian Red Data Book – the kingfisher, which nests in exactly such eroding banks at sharper river bends. After admiring the river cliffs and ravines covered with gully and slope forests, you'll come back to the Minija through a park-like hornbeam wood. The sound of its rushing water will accompany you all the way back to Dauginčiai hillfort, where you started.