Lower Oder Valley National Park

The park protects about a hundred square kilometres of Oder floodplain, the only national park in Germany covering a river floodplain. Polders built for agriculture are now managed for nature: sluices are opened in winter so the ground floods, and closed in spring so it dries for meadow, which reproduces the seasonal cycle the wildlife depends on. Tens of thousands of cranes and geese use the meadows on migration, and white-tailed eagles, black storks, beavers and aquatic warblers breed in the park. It forms a transboundary protected area with Polish reserves on the other bank of the river.

What you actually see

• The managed flooding - polders deliberately flooded each winter and drained in spring.
• The migration gatherings - tens of thousands of cranes and geese.
• The eagles and storks - white-tailed eagles and black storks breeding.
• The transboundary area - reserves continuing across the river.

When to go

April to June for breeding birds and October to November for migration. Winter flooding closes many paths. Core zones are restricted year-round.

Honest expectations

Flooded polders close paths for months. Core zones cannot be entered. The area is flat with limited facilities and no public transport inside.

Nearby

Schwedt lies west; the Polish border runs down the river.