Just 12 km from Kaunas, in the resort town of Kačerginė, you can set off on a hike along naturally trodden paths. Choose a 2.6 km, 3.3 km, 4 km, 4.5 km or 5.5 km route and you'll walk through pine forests and along the banks of the Nemunas, and in at least three places you can drink excellent spring water. Because of its healing properties, this water is used by the Žibutė sanatorium in Kačerginė. Holidaymakers have long loved the Kačerginė pine woods for their hills, sandy slopes and delicate vegetation. The paths wind over the hills past the finest viewpoints and natural clearings, and the difference in height reaches a full 56 m. Plenty of Nordic walking enthusiasts and families with children have already tried the Springs Trail. Enthusiasts walk it in every season, and those looking for something extreme organise night hikes. Especially for them, the trees along the paths have been painted with reflective paint 2 m above the ground to make it easier to find the way. There are benches and signposts on every section of the route, so your hike in the wild will be truly comfortable. Children especially love counting the impressive anthills along the trail (there are almost 40), finding badger or other animal burrows, and if you're lucky you might see a squirrel or even roe deer. At the furthest point of the loop is the state-protected Pypliai hillfort. According to legends and the 20th-century Lithuanian historians Zenonas Ivinskis and Kazimieras Paunksnis, this may have been the site of Pilėnai castle, destroyed in 1336. Refusing to surrender to the Teutonic Knights, its Lithuanian defenders burned all the castle's riches and took their own lives rather than be taken prisoner. As the trail starts within the town, you can easily have a meal or buy food at a nearby shop.