The Kozłow Desert ( pl, Pustynia Kozłowska) is an area of sand dunes in the

Lower Silesian Forest Lower Silesian Forest ( pl, Bory Dolnośląskie, german: Niederschlesische Heide) is the largest continuous forest of Poland, with total area of 1650 square kilometers. It is located in southwestern Poland, in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and th ...

near the village of Kozłow, approximately 17 km south-east of

Szprotawa Szprotawa (german: Sprottau) is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It has 11,820 inhabitants (2019). History The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first me ...

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

Żagań County __NOTOC__ Żagań County ( pl, powiat żagański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms ...

, southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, on the border between the municipalities of

Gromadka Gromadka (german: Gremsdorf) is a village in Bolesławiec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Gromadka. It lies approximately north-east of Bolesławie ...

and

Bolesławiec Bolesławiec (pronounced , szl, Bolesławiec, german: Bunzlau) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec ...

. The desert is part of the Przemkowski Landscape Park. The dunes formed as a result of glacial action in the area. The "desert" was formed as a result of military exercises in the area, particularly as a result of the destruction of vegetation by rocket exercises from the 1920s onwards, first under the Germans and then later under the Soviets, which exposed the sand-dunes. The area was favoured for rocket exercises as the dunes formed a shield blocking the flight and explosion of rockets. The rocket exercises in the area finally ended in 1992 with the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Poland. The sandy area of the desert presently covers 20 hectares, though it is slowly being overgrown as vegetation recovers. The sandy area is divided by a central heath into a larger northern section (along the Długa Góra dune) and a smaller southern section (along the Gołębia Góra dune). Together with the

Starczynów Desert The Starczynów Desert ( pl, Pustynia Starczynowska) is an area of formerly exposed but now largely overgrown sand dunes in the Lower Silesian Forest in the Silesian upland between Olkusz and Bukowno in the Malopolska Voivodeship, southern Polan ...

, the Kozłow Desert is part of the larger Lower Silesian Forest (''Bory Dolnośląskie'') Desert.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozłow Desert Deserts of Poland Deserts of Europe