Ignalina District Municipality
Aukštaitija National Park
relict oak grove and wooded pasture in Aukštaitija National Park
near Ginučiai, between Lakes Linkmenas and Asėkas, Aukštaitija National Park
55.37000, 26.00000
30-60 minutes for the grove; half a day with the ridge trail
late spring and summer for meadow vegetation and grazing cattle
Ginučiai grove
Ginučiai Oak Grove: a relict grove between lakes
Ginučiai Oak Grove is an old, relict oak grove between Lakes Linkmenas and Asėkas in Aukštaitija National Park, near Ginučiai village. It is listed among the park's important natural values and is considered one of its most distinctive places.
This is not an ordinary forest but a half-open grove, a wooded pasture where meadow and woodland meet. That combination once allowed extremely rare plants to flourish here.
A wooded pasture
Ginučiai Oak Grove belongs to the wooded-pasture habitat type, a European Union priority habitat that joins two ecosystems: meadow-pasture and forest. Only about 400 ha of such habitats remain in Lithuania, which makes the site especially valuable.
The grove is not a separate botanical reserve. Its legal protection comes from its location in the Šiliniškės Landscape Reserve, inside Aukštaitija National Park. Different sources give its area as roughly 17-18 ha.
A treasury of rare plants
Half a century ago, the grove's meadows impressed botanists with a wealth of rare plants, including Red Data Book species such as early-purple orchid, sometimes called a "Lithuanian orchid", Siberian iris, and others. The Swedish dandelion flowered here until about 1983, before grazing was banned.
When cattle grazing stopped, tall grasses, sedges, and shrubs began to dominate, and light-loving rare plants declined. Under a LIFE project run by the Aukštaitija National Park Directorate, the habitat was restored and cattle returned to the grove in 2024, after a break of almost 46 years. Early results show rare species beginning to recover.
How to visit
Ginučiai Oak Grove is an open, free natural area in the national park. From spring to autumn cattle graze here, so do not disturb them, and keep dogs on a leash. The grove itself can be seen in 30-60 minutes.
The site is conveniently reached on the Šiliniškės Ridge educational trail, which links Ladakalnis, Ginučiai Hillfort, and the Ancient Beekeeping Museum in Stripeikiai. Do not confuse the three Ginučiai sights: the oak grove, the hillfort, and the watermill are separate places.
