Moszne (Jezioro Moszne) is a small forest lake in the Polesie National Park, between the settlement of Łomnica and the village of Jamniki in Gmina Urszulin. Its area is about 17 hectares, and its depth with a muddy bottom reaches 17 meters. The most amazing thing here is the shores: instead of sand or reeds, the lake is surrounded by a floating carpet of mosses that seems like you can walk on it, but underneath is actually water. It is precisely for this spectacle that the „Dąb Dominik” trail leads here.
The Floating Shore
Moszne is considered a classic dystrophic lake: the water in it is poor in nutrients and dark from peat. The surface is partially covered by a mat — a layer of Sphagnum mosses, roots, and plant remains, which the Polish call „pło” or „spleja”. In the 1950s, it surrounded the open water with a ring 80–150 meters wide. Since then, the mat has hardly grown, but reeds and other littoral vegetation have encroached upon the water and taken up about a third of the former open water. A wooden boardwalk leads to the modern shore.
Insectivorous sundews grow on the mat, orchids bloom, and in autumn, bog cranberries ripen. Around it are swamp pine forests, alder groves, and oak groves, and nearby are peat pits, which are holes where peat was once dug.
Professor Fijałkowski Nature Reserve
The lake was protected even before the park was established: the „Jezioro Moszne” reserve with an area of about 205 hectares appeared in 1974 on the initiative of Lublin botanist Dominik Fijałkowski. The oak tree on the trail is also named after him, and the professor himself contributed to the creation of the national park here in 1990. Today, Moszne is one of those places where it is best to see how a Polissian lake step by step turns into a swamp.
Near the lake, you can see an elk, a crane, traces of a beaver, and hear a tawny owl. The park warns that the common European viper lives here, so watch your step.
Fishing
Moszne is a protected lake of Polesie National Park, and fishing is not allowed here. The only water body in the park open to anglers is the Głęboki pond near Pieszowola: fishing there is from the shore at designated spots from 1 May to 30 November, with a fishing card and a paid park permit.
How to Get There
From Urszulin (Route No. 82 Lublin — Włodawa), drive along the powiat road towards Sosnowica for about 9 km to the Łomnica settlement, where there is a free parking lot. The short version of the trail is about a 2.5 km loop, suitable for strollers; the long one is about 3.5 km to Jamniki. Admission to the trail is paid, walking is allowed from dawn to dusk and only on the boardwalk: stepping onto the floating mat is dangerous. Nearby runs the trail from Stare Załucze to Pieszowola; another large lake in the park is Łukie. This is Poland: Ukrainian citizens need a foreign passport.
