Shyrkovets Marsh, Novyi Mizun

The Shyrkovets swamp is a well-known hydrological monument of national importance. It is located in the Dolyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region, between the villages of Staryi Mizun and Novyi Mizun, within the Vyhoda Basin. The protected area covers 12 hectares. The swamp became a protected area in 1975, and since then it has been forbidden to hunt and pick plants around it. It is managed by the Vyhoda Forestry State Enterprise.

It is in the Shyrkovets bog that relics of the Ice Age flora are still preserved. This region is a habitat for rare, endangered species of animals and plants that are nowhere else to be found today.

Today, Shyrkovets is fed by rainwater, which keeps it from drying out. The upper bog is located in a depression on the lower terrace of the Mizunka River, at an altitude of 500-550 m. The central part of the bog is oligotrophic, with depressed pine and dominated by mud-sphagnum cenoses. The mesotrophic part of the bog is dominated by sedge-sphagnum communities. Among the rare plant species in the bog, you can see the round-leaved sundew, an insectivorous perennial plant that Charles Darwin once experimented with. He fed it various types of food, but not everything was consumed by the plant. The sundew especially liked cheese, sausage, and fried meat.

Shyrkivka is also home to the small-fruited cranberry, which is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. However, most of the bog's surface is covered with mosses and various types of sedge, as well as wild berries such as blueberries and cowberries. If you're lucky, you can see rare black storks on the bog, which come here to nest in March and April.

Western Ukraine is one of the most picturesque parts of the country. This region is especially popular due to its favorable climate. The Carpathian region has more than 2,000 hectares of preserved wetlands, half of which are part of the Ukrainian nature reserve complex.

The highlandbogs, of which there are almost 90, cover an area of over a thousand hectares. Tourists come here to enjoy the beauty of this picturesque region.

There are no analogues to Shyrkovets in the Carpathians. This piece of pristine nature, which has not been touched by human hands, is a must-see for outdoor enthusiasts and those who like to discover new and unknown things. Arriving at Mizun Forestry, you can enjoy the clean air, the beauty of the Carpathian forests, and be alone with nature. For true lovers of flora and fauna, such a vacation will be simply unforgettable.

To find the Shyrkovets swamp, you first need to get to the village of Novyi Mizun. You can get here by direct bus from Lviv, which departs from Dvirtseva Square near the railway station. There are also buses from the Dolyna bus station. You can walk from the village to the swamp, but it's better to ask the locals for directions - they know the safest and shortest way. Please note that Shyrkovets is one of the stops of the Carpathian Tram, so you can visit this bog as part of a wider excursion program.

Experienced guides of the Boykivshchyna Museum will help you organize sightseeing tours of the Dolyna region if you want to see the Museum of Insurgent Victory in Dolyna, the old saltworks, and the bunker where Ukrainian nationalists were hiding, the Carpathian tram in Vyhoda, Dovbush's Rocks in Bubnyshche, Mizun waterfalls near Novyi Mizun, Mountain Polyanytsia Lake (Dead) or Hoshiv Monastery, Ivan Franko Museum in Lolyn village.