Anykščiai District Municipality
Anykščiai
treetop walkway and observation tower
Dvaronys village 5, LT-29168 Anykščiai District Municipality
55.48600, 25.06000
1-1.5 hours
May-October for green forest, autumn for colour, clear weather for the viewpoint
Tree Canopy Walk, Medžių lajų takas
Anykščiai Tree Canopy Walk above Anykščių šilelis
The Anykščiai Tree Canopy Walk, officially presented in Lithuanian as Medžių lajų takas, is one of the clearest landmarks of Anykščiai Regional Park. It lets visitors not only walk through the forest, but also rise into the crowns of the pines, where Anykščių šilelis opens from a completely different angle.
Saugoma.lt describes it as the first trail of this type in the Baltic states and in all of Eastern Europe. That status matters not as a record for its own sake, but because the site brings together nature-education infrastructure, the literary memory of Anykščių šilelis, and a convenient route beside Puntukas.
Length, height, and tower
Official Saugoma.lt data gives the trail length as 300 m. It rises gradually to 21 m above the forest floor, and the route ends at an observation tower with a platform 34 m high. VLE confirms these figures in its description of Anykščiai Regional Park and states that the canopy walk was built in 2015.
That height is enough to see not only the treetops, but also the wider direction of the Šventoji valley. Even so, this is not an extreme tower experience: the main value is the slow rise through the canopy, not only the final panorama.
The link with Puntukas
The trail stands in Anykščių šilelis near Puntukas Stone, so the two places are almost always visited together. Puntukas explains the Ice Age and cultural-memory layer, while the canopy walk helps visitors understand why the forest itself is more than a decorative backdrop.
In practice, it is easiest to start at the information centre and the canopy walk, then visit Puntukas more calmly, or do the route in reverse. If you come on a weekend, allow extra time, because this is one of the most popular stops in Anykščiai.
Reading Anykščių šilelis
Saugoma.lt emphasizes that the trail's interpretive stops connect forest ecology, Puntukas, and the context of Antanas Baranauskas' poem "Anykščių šilelis". In other words, the trail is not only an observation structure; it works as a nature and culture interpretation route.
It is worth stopping at the information panels instead of walking straight to the tower. The texts at the intermediate stops help explain stands of trees, species, changes in the forest, and the symbolic meaning of the place.
Accessibility and limits
Saugoma.lt states that the area has paved access, an asphalt parking lot, an information centre, public toilets, and visitor infrastructure. The same source, however, clearly notes that the trail itself and the tower are currently not accessible to people with mobility disabilities.
Check that detail before travelling, because infrastructure can be updated. If you travel with a stroller, a person with limited mobility, or small children, plan an alternative route around the information centre and Puntukas area.
Opening hours and tickets
Saugoma.lt provides seasonal opening hours for the Tree Canopy Walk, so check the official page before going. The place may look like a simple nature object, but it is visitor infrastructure with a specific operating regime, not a fully open forest path at any hour.
Before planning a trip, also check ticket and visitor-ticket conditions. Regional-park infrastructure rules can change, and the official source will always be more accurate than an old travel blog post.
How to visit
Allow at least one hour for the canopy walk, and about an hour and a half if you add Puntukas and an unhurried walk. The best approach is slow: first feel the height of the forest, then use the tower to look across the wider landscape.
For photographs, soft morning or evening light works best. In summer the forest is richly green, in autumn the trail becomes one of the best Anykščiai places for colour, and in winter the most important step is to check trail and tower operating conditions.
