How common are such crooked forests and where can I find one?
I'm interested in visiting a "Crooked forest", similar to this forest in Poland or the Hoia forest in Romania, which has trees bent at the bottom:
However, I'm not interested in these two locations in particular, just in this specific tree shape. Ideally, I'd like to find one near where I live (Rheinland / Alsace). Can anyone point me to similar locations nearby?
There seem to be different theories regarding how such forests appeared, including heavy wind / snow, WWII tanks, and trees being specially grown for particular woodwork. Does anyone know which one it is? It would certainly help me in finding one, e.g. if snow is responsible then it makes no sense to look for one in places where there's no snow.
Best Answer
The crooked forest in the photo is in North-West Poland, near the German border. It was almost certainly caused by human action. It is believed that the trees were planted in the early 1930s, and were shaped as such for a particular purpose - but the knowledge of that purpose was lost over time (I suspect, but can't find a reference to support, that the original owners were killed in the war)
I'm not aware of any other such forests, but you'll find individual crooked trees in almost any forest - these will be more likely to have been caused by natural means, for example another tree falling on them.
You may be more likely to find an area of coppicing near to you however - this is an ancient means of woodland management whereby the trees were cut right back to encourage the growth of long, thin trunks for woodworking purposes.
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Where can you find Crooked Forest?
The Crooked Forest is a grove of 400 oddly shaped pine trees located near the town of Gryfino, West Pomerania in Poland. The pine trees were planted around 1930 when its location was still within the German province of Pomerania.Where are the twisted trees?
The Crooked Trees, Crooked Bush, Twisted Trees or the Crooked Trees of Alticane are a grove of deformed trembling aspen trees of type Populus tremuloides Michx. found in Saskatchewan, Canada.Why are there crooked trees in Poland?
The most compelling origin theory is that the trees had been buried under heavy snow in their infancy. However, others believe that the trunks were altered by the area's gravitational pull. One explanation suggests that foresters shaped the trees after planting them in 1925-1928.Can people visit the Crooked Forest?
Although the Crooked forest is a protected area, there were no signs with the directions there at all. No special permit is needed to get there.If You Find A Bent Tree In The Forest, You May Have Just Stumbled Upon A Centuries Old Secret
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