Green Velo

The ATR bike trail is 115 km long and requires at least two days of cycling if you want to visit the points of interest located along the trail. It runs on good asphalt and dirt roads, only a few kilometres of the trail has inferior pavement. It has clearly signposted, rest areas and information boards are numerous. The trail is very interesting and varied, and its main points of interest include the Sandomierz Forest and the Janów Forests as well as interesting historical sights and towns of the San River valley; Ulanów, Krzeszów and Rudnik nad Sanem. Suitable for weekend recreation trip, it is a rather easy trail.

The general route of the trail is as follows: Racławice, at the border with Nisko (0.0 km) - Zarzecze (3.0 km) - Ulanów (11.5 km) - Jarocin (25.4 km) - Huta Krzeszowska (47.5 km) - Krzeszów (68.4 km) - Rudnik (78.0 km) - Jeżowe (94.8 km) - Bojanów (115 km).

The trail starts at the border of the village of Racławice and the city of Nisko. This is an industrial centre in the San River valley, located near the city of Stalowa Wola. The trail crosses the San River over the bridge and runs to the locality of Zarzecze and leads upstream to the locality of Ulanów. This part of the route runs mainly on dirt roads, close to the river. The trail reaches the locality of Ulanów, where we come across Green Velo signposting for a while.

For centuries the Ulanów population has used the location of the settlement in the fork of two rivers. Next to the river harbour, formerly known as the "Pile", barges moored and then after loading they sailed down the San River and later the Vistula River. In the past, Ulanów was called "little Gdańsk" because local rafters floated wood from the Subcarpathian forests to this city. There was a rafting school and boatbuilding workshops. The local points of interest - the galley rafting, combined with the consumption of traditional rafters' dishes, as well as the June National Rafting Days and the Polish Rafting Museum opened in 2015, are all based on these great traditions of the place. In Ulanów, there are two 17th-century wooden churches; the parish church of St. John the Baptist and Barbara, and the so-called rafters’ cemetery church of the Holy Trinity. The latter was rebuilt after a fire in 2002. Before the Second World War, Jewish people accounted for almost a half of the town's population - a Jewish cemetery dating back to the beginning of the 18^th century is a memento of the old days.

From the centre of Ulanów, the trail runs along the Tanew, the largest river of the Roztocze Region, and then turns north. The trail runs through cultivated fields towards the Janów Forest. In the past, these areas were covered by the impassable, extensive Sandomierz Forest with numerous brooks, rivers, ponds and backwaters. In the locality of Jarocin there is a church of Our Lady of Sorrows dating back to the beginning of the 20^th century. An attraction is also a well-developed artificial lake on the Gilówka River. The trail skirts around the lake, running along the edge of the Janów Forests and heads for the village of Huta Krzeszowska. The most valuable monument of the village is a complex of wooden church buildings from the first half of the 19^th century. It comprises a church with Baroque furnishings, a two-storey belfry and a granary standing next to the presbytery. Almost the entire route between the localities of Ulanów and Huta Krzeszowska runs on asphalt or good dirt roads.

From the village of Huta Krzeszowska the route runs south, back to the San River valley, to the town of Krzeszów. This town, located on the rafting route, was an important commercial centre of the area from the 17^th century to the First World War.  The most important monument in Krzeszów is a wooden, three-nave church, dating back to 1727-1728, renovated in the 19^th century. It is located on a high embankment of the San River Valley. A large part of this trail section runs on forest dirt roads.

The trail returns to the left bank of the San River and through the locality of Kopki runs to the town of Rudnik nad Sanem. This town is famous for its wicker industry. Its development was prompted in the 19^th century by the Austrian Count, Ferdinand Hompesch. He promoted the wicker industry among the local population, who built him a monument at the local market square. In 2007, the Wicker Industry Centre was founded in the town of Rudnik nad Sanem. It is located near the market, next to the Holy Trinity church. The exhibitions presented at the Centre show the history and the present day of this craft. Wicker sculptures are used to decorate town squares, thematic workshops are organized, and at the beginning of June the Wicker Industry Festival takes place here.

The last section of the trail runs through the forests of the Sandomierz Forest and agricultural areas, with a slightly less varied landscape. In this part of the trail good asphalt roads predominate, hardly frequented by cars. The trail ends on the bridge in the locality of Bojanów.

You can return to the starting point of the trip (Nisko) by following the blue bike trail, running mainly through the Sandomierz Forest. Such a loop will total approximately 140 km, giving the ideal distance for a two-day, weekend bicycle trip. Assuming this arrangement, accommodation is best found in the vicinity of localities of Krzeszów or Rudnik. You can also divide the route into two days, without accommodation, returning to Nisko from the locality of Rudnik nad Sanem on the first day, and on the second day cycle to the locality Rudnik and then return to the aforementioned blue bike trail.

Points of interest along the trail:

1. San River valley
2. Remains of the Sandomierz Forest and Janów Forest
3. Ulanów – town of raftmen, historic church
4. Jarocin - historic church
5. Huta Krzeszowska - historic church
6. Krzeszów - Jewish cemetery, historic church
7. Rudnik nad Sanem – wickerwork centre

The entire trail is suitable for bicycles with panniers/bike trailers. The trail runs only on roads without road traffic or on local roads with a low and very low volume of traffic; no dangerous intersections. A recreational trail.

Starting point:

Racławice near Nisko, near the church, intersection DK77 with Nadjeziorna street

Finishing point:

Bojanów, before the bridge on the river