Dune Efa

The Curonian Spit's dune ridge runs most of its length and reaches over sixty metres, among the highest drifting dunes in Europe. It has a history: forest clearing from the sixteenth century released the sand, and moving dunes buried whole villages, several of which had to be abandoned and rebuilt further along. Franz Efa, a forester working here from the 1870s, developed and led the planting and fencing programme that fixed most of the sand, and the dune and viewpoint carry his name. A wooden stairway and boardwalk climb from the road to two platforms, one over the lagoon side and one looking along the ridge and out to the Baltic, with the village of Morskoye below and the Lithuanian border visible north. Walking on the dune itself is prohibited, because footprints destabilise it - a rule the spit's whole history explains, and one that visitors break constantly.

Highlights

• The dune ridge - drifting sand over sixty metres, among Europe's highest.
• The two platforms - views over the lagoon and along the ridge to the Baltic.
• The burial history - villages abandoned as the sand moved over them.
• Franz Efa - the forester whose planting programme fixed the dunes.

When to go

May to September. One to two hours including the boardwalk climb. Early or late for light and fewer people.

Things to know

Walking on the sand is prohibited and enforced with fines - the boardwalk is the whole of the access. Steep steps up. Very busy in summer with coaches. Wind on the ridge is constant and blows sand.

Nearby

The Dancing Forest is south along the road; Morskoye and the Lithuanian border are north.