The “Oxbow Lakes of the Mura River” forest trail is a trail that follows the oxbow lakes of the Mura River, where you can get the best idea of the diverse and rich life in the floodplains along the Mura River. This is a 2.5 km-long marked educational forest trail along the Mura oxbow lake, designed by Veržej biologist Božena Kosi, Dane Katalinic and Cvetka Ivančič.
Its keeper is Franc Kosi, who also guides schoolchildren, teachers, amateurs and experts through the arch, explaining the ecology of the arch, the flora and fauna of the arch and the life of the people living along the Mura River.
The trail starts on the eastern side of the railway line and ends at the wooden ferry across the Mura River, leading to the Island of Love in Ižakovci and the local museum of “büjraštvo”. There are 35 species of trees and shrubs (native and non-native) identified along the trail.
Not far from the path, in the parish woods, there are also two trees of exceptional size that are listed as natural assets: the black poplar (Populus nigra) is a natural asset of national importance, while the elm (Ulmus leavis) is a natural asset of local importance.
Along the trail there is also a stand of Canadian black walnut (Juglans nigra), planted in 1935 by pupils of the Veržej primary school. In addition to the deciduous and coniferous trees, the trail takes you through the vegetation of the floodplain meadows, with the protected poet’s daffodil (Narcissus poeticus L.) and lungwort (Pulmonaria molissima), as well as the undergrowth of the woods, with rare species such as the navelwort (Omphalodes scorpioides (Haenke) Schrad.) and the thin-spiked wood sedge (Carex strigosa Huds.).
Unfortunately, invasive non-native plants such as Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) and Japanese knotweed (Reneutria japonica Houtt.) are becoming increasingly common in the river meadows and are crowding out the native vegetation.