Kabacki Forest and Polana Powsińska Loop

The Kabacki Forest and Polana Powsińska Loop is a roughly 7.3 km circuit through the Stefan Starzyński Kabacki Forest reserve on the southern edge of Warsaw, in the Ursynów district of Masovia, Poland. It is one of the capital's largest continuous woodlands and offers an easy two-hour walk reachable entirely by metro and bus. The route leads to the Polana Powsińska clearing, where a rest shelter and the Hetman Oak are the main points of interest.

Access is simple. Metro line M1 runs to Kabaty, the southern terminus, and trailheads at Stare Kabaty and Powsin are reachable on foot or by a short bus ride. The journey from the centre takes about 35 minutes, and a single 75-minute ticket costs 4.40 PLN (about $1.14 USD). The address used for the trailhead is ul. Pod Lasem, 02-793 Warsaw. Drivers can park on residential streets near the forest edge, though space is limited at weekends. No permit or entry fee is needed.

The loop is graded easy. Total elevation gain is about 40 m, spread over gentle undulations, and the surface is forest paths of packed earth and sand that can become muddy after rain. Mature deciduous and mixed trees give good shade for most of the walk, with little exposure. The reserve is a protected area, so walkers are asked to stay on marked paths and keep dogs out, as dogs are not allowed in the reserve.

The key landmark is Polana Powsińska, an open clearing with a rest shelter where walkers commonly pause before looping back. The Hetman Oak, an old tree of local note, stands nearby. Turn-around points are easy to find because several paths cross the forest, and the loop can be shortened by returning toward Kabaty. There are no taps or cafes inside the reserve, so water and snacks should be brought from the metro area. Benches and the shelter provide places to rest and to wait out a short shower. Ticks are active in warm months, and repellent is advisable.