Hotels near Aukštagirė Observation Tower

The Aukštagirė observation tower is 15 metres of plain steel lattice on top of a 208-metre hill, and the climb up to it is the steepest ten minutes in Šilalė District. The reward is the only public panorama of the Samogitian hills in this part of Lithuania: the Aukštagirė ridge runs roughly 750 metres below you, and on a clear day the flat-topped bulk of Medvėgalis is visible to the north-east.

The tower anchors the 23 km Aukštagirė walking and cycling trail, which loops through spruce plantations and past several smaller hillforts. In winter the slope below the car park is used for skiing and sledging, and the access road is ploughed. The last two kilometres are unpaved but passable in an ordinary car outside deep mud, and there is no charge for either the car park or the tower.

Pro Tip: Trees have grown up around the platform, so the view is widest between late October and April when the canopy is bare. Wear boots, because the path from the car park is clay and tree roots rather than steps.