The Drawa () is a river and popular aquatic trail in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, 192 km long. The surface of its catchment area amounts to 3291 km². The Drawa begins its course at Krzywe Lake and ends it in

Noteć Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Krzyż Wielkopolski Krzyż Wielkopolski (german: Kreuz ( Ostbahn)) is a town in Poland, with 6,176 inhabitants (2019) in the Czarnków-Trzcianka County, Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is an important railroad junction, with two major lines crossing there - the Berl ...

. The Drawa is a right-bank tributary of

Noteć Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

in Pojezierze Drawskie.

Geography

The Drawa flows across regions including Pojezierze Drawskie, Równina Drawska and partly near Pojezierze Wałeckie and

Kotlina Gorzowska Kotlina may refer to: the following places in Poland: * Kotlina in Gmina Mirsk, Lwówek Śląski County in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (SW Poland) *Other places Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy ...

. The source of the Drawa is in nature reserve

Dolina Pięciu Jezior Dolina (or Dolyna in Ukraine) is a Slavic toponym, meaning "valley" or "dale". It may refer to: Places ;Austria * Dolina (Grafenstein), a village in the Municipality of Grafenstein, Carinthia, southern Austria ;Bosnia and Herzegovina *Dolina, Z ...

. Then, the river flows across

Drawski Landscape Park Drawsko Landscape Park (''Drawski Park Krajobrazowy'') is a protected area ( Landscape Park) in north-western Poland, established in 1979, covering an area of . The Park lies within West Pomeranian Voivodeship: in Drawsko County ( Gmina Czapli ...

Drawieński National Park Drawa National Park ( pl, Drawieński Park Narodowy) is located in north-western Poland, on the border of Greater Poland, Lubusz and West Pomeranian Voivodeships. The park is a part of the huge Drawsko Forest (Puszcza Drawska), which lies on the ...

and

Drawski forest __NOTOC__ Drawsko County ( pl, powiat drawski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in ...

. The section from

Czaplinek Czaplinek (german: Tempelburg; csb, Czôplënkò) is a town in Drawsko County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 7,012 inhabitants as of December 2021. The former name of ''Tempelburg'' refers to the Templar Knights, which settled near ...

Noteć Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Karol Wojtyła Silver Route Karol may refer to: Places * Karol, Gujarat, a village on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, west India * Karol State, a former Rajput petty princely state with seat in the above town Film/TV *'' Karol: A Man Who Became Pope'', a 2005 miniseries ...

Tributaries

The biggest tributaries of the Drawa are the

Kokna Kokni, Kokna, Kukna is an Indian Adivasi tribal community found in Sahyadri-Satpura Ranges of Maharashtra (mostly residing in Nandurbar and Dhule districts - Sakri, Navapur talukas) and in Gujarat (mostly residing in Ahwa- Dang, Navsari and V ...

, Korytnica, Mierzęcka Struga, Płociczna, Pokrętna, Słopica,

Wąsowa Wąsowa is a river of Poland. It flows out of the lake Wąsosze and is a left tributary of the River Drawa in Złocieniec Złocieniec (; formerly german: Falkenburg) is a town in northwestern Poland. Located in West Pomeranian Voivodeship's Dr ...

. The main streams of the river are the Bagnica, Drawsko, Drawka, Głęboka, Miedzniki, Moczel, Pełknica, Radówka,

Sitna The Sitna is a right tributary of the river Jijia in Romania. It discharges into the Jijia in Hlipiceni.Studzienica, Sucha, Szczuczna, Wilżnica. One canal, Prostynia, flows into the Drawa.

Lakes

The Drawa flows through many lakes. In the upper region of the river there are Górne, Krąg, Długie, Głębokie, . Further down the river, the lakes

Prosino Prosino (german: Prössin) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Czaplinek, within Drawsko County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately north of Czaplinek, north-east of Drawsko Pomorskie, a ...

, Żerdno,

Drawsko Lake Drawsko (german: Dratzigsee) is a lake located nearby the town of Czaplinek in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships ...

, Rzepowskie,

Lubie Lubie is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Barlinek, within Myślibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Barlinek, east of Myślibórz, and south-east of the ...

, Krosino,

Wielkie Wielkie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Abramów, within Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Abramów, west of Lubartów, and north-west of the regional capital Lubli ...

and

Małe Dębno Małe (Polish:"little") may refer to: * Małe, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland *Małe, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland See also * * Male (disambiguation) Male, in biology, is the half of a sex system that produces sperm cells. * Male plant, a plant t ...

can be found.

Towns

Złocieniec Złocieniec (; formerly german: Falkenburg) is a town in northwestern Poland. Located in West Pomeranian Voivodeship's Drawsko County since 1999, it was previously a part of Koszalin Voivodeship (disambiguation), Koszalin Voivodeship (1950–199 ...

Drawsko Pomorskie Drawsko Pomorskie (until 1948 pl, Drawsko; formerly german: Dramburg) is a town in Drawsko County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland, the administrative seat of Drawsko County and the urban-rural commune of Gmina Drawsko ...

* Prostynia *

Drawno Drawno (german: Neuwedell; csb, Nowi Wedel) is a town in Choszczno County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,219 inhabitants as of December 2021. The headquarters of the Drawa National Park (''Drawieński Park Narodowy'') are located h ...

* Stare Osieczno * Przedborowo *

Krzyż Wielkopolski Krzyż Wielkopolski (german: Kreuz ( Ostbahn)) is a town in Poland, with 6,176 inhabitants (2019) in the Czarnków-Trzcianka County, Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is an important railroad junction, with two major lines crossing there - the Berl ...

Flora and fauna

The river contains over thirty species of fish, including the

Rutilus ''Rutilus'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae found in Eurasia. This genus is a widely distributed lineage of cyprinids and ranges from West Europe to East Siberia. Species In FishBase (2022), nine species are included in the genus: * ...

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

gudgeon A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., '' female'') fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, ...

European chub ''Squalius cephalus'' is a European species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It frequents both slow and moderate rivers, as well as canals and still waters of various kinds. This species is referred to as the common chub, Europe ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiformes, gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species ...

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-sa ...

grayling Grayling or Greyling may refer to: Animals Fish * Grayling, generically, any fish of the genus ''Thymallus'' in the family Salmonidae ** European grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''), the European species of the genus ''Thymallus'' ** Arctic grayli ...

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', ' ...

spirlin ''Alburnoides bipunctatus'', known vernacularly as the schneider, spirlin, bleak, riffle minnow, and others, is a species of small (9-cm average length) freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerb ...

and

silver bream Silver bream is the common name of several species of fish: * '' Blicca bjoerkna'' (white bream), freshwater species of cyprinids from Europe and Western Asia * ''Acanthopagrus australis'' (surf bream), marine and freshwater species of sea bream fro ...

. The river is also a place of living of the rare specimens –

sea trout Sea trout is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of e ...

common minnow The Eurasian minnow, minnow, or common minnow (''Phoxinus phoxinus'') is a small species of Fresh water, freshwater fish in the carp family (biology), family Cyprinidae. It is the type species of genus ''Phoxinus''. It is ubiquitous throughout mu ...

european bullhead The European bullhead (''Cottus gobio'') is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the family Cottidae, a type of sculpin. It is also known as the miller's thumb, freshwater sculpin, common bu ...

and

vimba vimba ''Vimba vimba'', called also the vimba bream, vimba, zanthe, or zarte, is a European fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It largely lives in the sea but makes an annual migration up-river each year to breed. Description The vimba bream was at ...

. The Drawa also hosts

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

s, red algae,

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throug ...

spargania ''Spargania'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae erected by Achille Guenée in 1857. Species *'' Spargania aurata'' (Grote, 1882) *'' Spargania bellipicta'' Warren, 1901 *'' Spargania luctuata'' (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) &nda ...

and

potamogeton ''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis'') ...

History

From the 14th century, the river has been used as a navigational route. Since 1700, the Drawa has been used for drifting honey from Drawsko to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

. Navigation of the river continued until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1974, on the river route was founded a nature reserve Drawa and in 1990

Attractions

The Drawa flows near various historical buildings. One of them is Drahimski Castle, which was turned into the museum. The castle was built in 1360 by the Order of Saint John. There are also interesting bunkers near camping in Kotlina. On Drawa's route Wedel's Castle, from the 14th century, can also be found. On one of the banks, Wydrzy Głaz can be found ( Moczele"Wydrzy Głaz"
). On the section of the river from

to Prostynia, rafting and canoeing are forbidden because the Drawski Training Ground is located in that area.

References

{{reflist * http://www.mrowka.pl/drawa.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20120123053451/http://www.kajaki-sikory.pl/pl/spywy/rzekadrawa * http://www.dpn.pl/drawa * Galiński Z., ''Przewodnik dla kajakarzy. Drawa'', Pascal, 2003.