The trail “the Seven Lakes Stream”, BY 2061z the green trail (47.9 km)
The trail “the Seven Lakes Stream”, BY 2061z the green trail (47.9 km) Charzykowy Campsite of PTTK (0.0 km) - Chojniczki (2.7 km) - the Niedźwiedzie Lake (4.1 km) - Stara Piła (18.3 km) - Jarcewo (42.1 km) – Chojnice the Człuchów Gate (47.9 km). The beginning of the green trail of “The Seven Lakes Stream” is located in the Charzykowy village situated on the south-east bank of the Charzykowskie Lake, just near the PTTK campsite. The fist settlement was located on the south-west edge of the Charzykowskie Lake. The above mentioned is confirmed by numerous archeological findings. Until 1309, Charzykowy belonged to the Szczytno castellany. During the regime of the Teutonic Knights, in years 1309 – 1466 the village belonged to the Człuchów komturia. The Charzykowy village is located at the distance of 6 km from Chojnice and it has always been under a considerable influence of that city. On the peninsula of the lake, on the so called Zamkowa Góra (the Castle Mountain) Teutonic Knights constructed an auxiliary castle called Buchwald. On 1st May 1346 Chojnice obtained 560 hectares of the forest for trees logging and pasturing in the contemporary Las Wolność (the Forest of Freedom). In 1348 the Człuchów komturia commander granted the Chojnice clothiers the privilege to establish the fulling mill on Zacisze at the Charzykowskie Lake. The location deed for Charzykowy dates back to 1350. In 1382 Jan Słoma obtained the village privilege to use arable land and the Łukomie Lake. In XVII century, a plant operated in the village manufacturing paper with watermarks of fish (perch, minnow, tench, bream) as well as the emblem of Chojnice – the head of the bison. The name of the village was often changed. It was called Charzikowo in 1565, Kharzikowie, Karzikowo 1565, Karsziekaw, Charzykowo 1570, Charzykowy 1660. During the times of Teutonic Knights as well as in the Prussian period the village of Charzykowy was called Mickendorff or Muskendorf. Great popularity of that locality is related to the development of sailing. Since 1919, the village has been the cradle of inland sailing in Poland. Here, at the times of patitions, an unregistered Association of Sailing Friends was established. The composition of the association included at that time: Konrad Kroplewski, Jan Gierszewski, Antoni Kaźmierski, Jan Dulek and others.
In 1922 at the initiative of Otton Weilandt, the first sailing club was established in Poland. Weilandt established also the Polish Sailing Association in 1924 during the assembly in Tczew. Otton Weilandt /2.10.1887 – 29.12.1966/ for many years fulfilled the function of the President of the Polish Sailing Association, a sailing arbiter, famous constructor of sail boats and ice-boats. In 1935 the above mentioned club had as many as 125 sail boats. The Charzykowy village hosted and has hosted important sailing races in sports and tourist and recreation classes. Apart from summer sports one may practice here also winter sports, mainly ice-boat sliding on the frozen lake. Sailing traditions are maintained at contemporary times by LKS club and ChKŻ club. Currently, the Charzykowy village constitutes a big summer – tourist – holiday resort. In the summer time the amphitheatre under the name of Otton Weilandt attracts with numerous music concerts, among others, a folk festival and the Shanties competition.
In the vicinity of the village there is Góra Wolność (the Mountain of Freedom) (206 m above the sea level), being the highest elevation in the nearest area. The yellow tourist trail under the name of Józef Bruski leads from the Charzykowy village. Since 1997 at the Długa 23 Street there has been the seat of the Directorate of the “Bory Tucholskie” National Park. It is worth to visit the website of www.charzykowy.pl. From the camp site of PTTK we go towards an asphalt road. We turn left and we go along the Długa Street to the north. At the crossing with a highroad leading to Chojniczki we turn right. On the left hand side, there is a bell tower dating back to XIX century where services had been held until 1946. We reach Chojniczki (2.7 km) by an asphalt road. As a peasant village it existed already at the times of the ruling of Pomeranian Dukes. Mentioned in 1275, it constituted the property of Myślibój the Small from Konarzyny. Chojniczki constituted a separate parish covering the following villages: Charzykowy, Funkenmühle, and Jarcewo. From Chojniczki the green trail of “The Seven Lakes Stream” leads together with the black trail under the name of Jan Karnowski, to the crossing of the trails at the watering place at the Niedźwiedzie Lake. Here the black and green trails depart. We go further several dozens of meters to the east following the Kashub trail. One shall pay attention to indications, as the red trail leads straight to Jarcewo. We turn left to the north. We reach the place called Wzgórze Siedmiu Dróg (the Hill of Seven Roads) or Hubertówka (Saint Hubertus’ lodge). We may rest here and admire the monument of St. Hubertus dating back to 1931. A low-relief was in the form of a seven-arm star was placed on huge stones. The relief presents the history of St. Hubertus, who as the legend says, noticed a deer with a cross between the antlers. Behind the monument, there is a wooden cross, which was situated in the place of the former cross funded in 1931, and destroyed during the war by Nazis. Hiking ahead along the green trail we reach the boundary of the “Bory Tucholskie” National Park and subsequently the Black Road, where we turn left. Following the blue bicycle trail we go to the north. On the left hand side we pass the lobelia Wielkie Gacno Lake. 100 m ahead we turn to the west parting with the blue trail. Following the forest, sandy road we reach first the dune and then the locality of Bachorze. Our route leads together with the red Kashub trail under the name of Julian Rydzkowski to the Płęsno Lake (18.3 km) and to the settlement called Stara Piła (Old Piła). Subsequently, the trail leads along lakes falling into the composition of the Seven Lakes Stream at the direction of the boundary of the “Bory Tucholskie” National Park, where we turn right to Dębowa Góra. We hike now at the boundary of the Park reaching the Ostrowite Lake – the biggest and the deepest (280.7 ha, 43 m deep) lake in the Park. Then we go to the south. On the right hand side we cross the seat of the Dębowa Góra Protection District. Now the route goes by a burdensome, sandy forest road. In the distance, on the left hand side we may see railway rails between Chojnice - Brusy - Kościerzyna. We leave the Park and we reach Klosnowo.
Klosnowo is a small forest settlement located some 10 km to the north-east of Chojnice. Here, the former seat of the Klosnowo Forest Management was located, which covered a considerable part of the contemporary “Bory Tucholskie” National Park. At the railway rails running from Chojnice to Kościerzyna, a very interesting facility of the forest management is located – a historic seed extraction plant. Seeds of coniferous trees before their sowing need to be extracted from cones. The above mentioned activity is conducted at an industrial scale in seed extraction plants, by drying in the temperature of 40-60 C, shaking seeds out of cones, and purifying them. The seed extraction plant in Klosnowo was constructed in 1913 and it constitutes one of the biggest of such a type plant in Poland. With 24 hours it is able to extract about 5 tons of pine cones or 3 tons of spruce cones. Currently, the plant extracts seeds of cones delivered from 41 forest management of the Regional Directorate of State Forests from Toruń and Piła. Mainly seeds of the pine, spruce, larch and douglas are extracted in the annual amount of 100 tons. One ton of cones provides 15 kg of pine seeds, 30 kg of spruce seeds and 30-40 kg of larch seeds. On 15th January 1999 a modern seed extraction plant was put into service, wheeze the old facility will host an open-air museum intended to present old method of seed extraction. Bory Tucholskie forests have a very strong hunting tradition. It was in Klosnow near Chojnice that in the interwar period numerous hunting dogs exhibitions and competitions took place. Considerable merits in that field are gained by an eminent breeder of German pointers, PhD Jan Łukowicz. Jan Paweł Łukowicz (1886 - 1957) was a representative of a well known Pomeranian line. His father - Jan Karol Maciej (1854 - 1918) was the initiator of the establishing, and then head and director for many years of the hospital of Saint Boromeus in Chojnice. After his death his son Jan Paweł assumed his function of the Director. He was very active with regard to social aspects; however, hunting had always played a very important place in his life. He was the founder and the President of the Westpomeranian Hunting Club in Chojnice (1922 - 1937). Similarly as other representatives of his family staying for years in the Chojnice Poviat ,he was hunting for almost half a century in łukomski, kopernicki, klosnowski, and rytelski forests as well as other forestsin Pomerania. Doctor Łukowicz was a great amateur and an expert at hunting dogs. In 1928 he assumed the chairmanship of the kennel section at the Pomeranian Hunting Association in Toruń. In Klosnowo, behind sawmill, the green trail turns right and it leads us through the forest to an asphalt road between Powałki-Jarcewo. Going along the road we pass the village of Czartołomie on the left hand side. In Jarcewo we find the Kashub red trail (42.1 km), we turn left and following a beautiful alley of monumental trees we go at the direction of Chojnice, where our trail ends at the Człuchów Gate (47.9 km).