This route is dedicated to honoring the memory of Adolfas Ramanauskas–Vanagas and other partisans. The trail leads past battle sites, a bunker, and monuments that remind us of their sacrifice for Lithuania’s freedom.

We invite you on a hike along paths and forest trails, through villages and meadows by the swamps, to places where oaths were sworn, the Merkinė offensive was planned, dreams of a free Lithuania were nurtured, and where A. Ramanauskas–Vanagas—the signatory of the February 16, 1949 LLKS Council Declaration—and his comrades took photos and fought. It was into the Merkinė forests that a former teacher from the Alytus Teacher Seminary went to become a partisan.

On August 1, 1945, during the first meeting in Nedzingė between Juozas Vitkus-Kazimieraitis and Vanagas, Kazimieraitis had already heard about Vanagas and invited him to join his organization. Vanagas agreed. The battalion led by Vanagas was reorganized into the Merkinė battalion, with Vanagas appointed as its commander. On September 25, 1947, when Vanagas became the leader of the Dainava district, the Merkinė battalion was respectfully renamed the Vanagas group.

For the convenience of hikers, two routes are offered: the long route of 28 km and the short route of 14 km.

The long route begins at the memorial to the partisans of the Dainava district on the Merkinė Hill of Crosses and ends at Merkinė Hillfort, which was likely often watched over by the partisan leader.

The short route begins and ends at Kasčiūnai village—home to Vanagas’s guardians and the partisan J. Jakavonis–Tigras, where the Merkinė offensive operation was planned.

The routes are marked with red grenade symbols and concrete arrows.