Blog · Europe · Aug 24, 2026

Free camping in Lithuania: only at an equipped site, and the map is public

Lithuanian forest rules let you stop for the night only at an equipped public recreation object. The state forest enterprise maps more than 1,100 of them, fires are legal only at a built fire ring, and the word stovyklavietė is the one that means you may sleep there.

FreeCampMaps Team Editorial team · 3 min read 5 sources cited

In Lithuania you may stop for the night only at an equipped public recreation object. That is the rule in the forest visiting rules themselves: point 6 of the Lankymosi miške taisyklės says natural persons may stop for rest in forests only at equipped public-use recreation objects. There is no tolerated version of pitching somewhere quiet off the track. Verified on e-seimas.lrs.lt on 24 August 2026.

That sounds restrictive until you see how many objects there are. Valstybinių miškų urėdija, the state forest enterprise, maintains more than 1,100 of them and publishes the map. Planning a Lithuanian trip is therefore an unusually literal exercise: pick your nights off the map, and the legality question answers itself.

Learn three words before you go

The signs use them and they are not interchangeable. Under the Regional Parks Regulations, an atokvėpio vieta is ground for short-term rest without an overnight stay. A poilsiavietė is ground for stopping temporarily, also without an overnight stay, which may have small structures, fire places and a car park. A stovyklavietė is ground intended for rest with an overnight stay, and may have parking, cooking equipment, fire places and provision for washing and rubbish.

So a poilsiavietė with a beautiful lake view, a table and a fire ring is still not a place to sleep. The word on the sign is the permission. Verified on the Dzūkija-Suvalkija protected areas directorate site on 24 August 2026.

Valstybinių miškų urėdija puts the same thing in one line for visitors: where can you stop? Only at poilsiavietės, atokvėpio vietos, stovyklavietės and kempingai.

Fires and vehicles

Fires are the strictly enforced part. Point 15.1 of the forest visiting rules forbids lighting fires and using open flame except at fire places built and marked at public-use recreation objects. The State Service for Protected Areas says the same for national and regional parks and describes what a legal fire place looks like: a ring surrounded on all sides by a mineralised strip at least half a metre wide, with the forest litter cleared away from it and no dry grass, trees or peaty ground close by. If the ring you are looking at does not look like that, it is not one, and the Service asks people to ring the local directorate rather than guess.

Vehicles are equally plain. Point 11 permits entering and driving through the forest with motor vehicles only on roads. Point 12 permits parking only in designated parking areas or at the edge of the road. There is no version of this where you nose off the track and settle in among the pines.

If you are driving something you sleep in

The parks answer this site by site, and they will tell you. In Veisiejai Regional Park the directorate is explicit that the campground Saulėtekis is the only place in the park where you may stay with a caravan or motorhome. Elsewhere a stovyklavietė with its own car park takes a van without difficulty. Read the entry for the individual site on the map, and then read the sign at the entrance, which beats both the map and this page.

The forest sites are basic and are not ticketed like a campsite. The paid tier is the kempingas, a commercial campground, which is also where you will find a shower and somewhere to empty a cassette. Plan water and waste around those, because a stovyklavietė is a fire ring, a table and a pit toilet, not a service point.

Planning it

Download both maps before you leave: the Valstybinių miškų urėdija recreation map for the state forests, and the protected areas map for the national and regional parks. Then book nothing and reserve nothing, because you do not have to, and just make sure every night lands on a site whose sign carries the right word.

For the country next door, Latvia runs the same idea through LVM’s forest network, and Estonia through RMK. A Baltic run can be planned entirely off the three state forest maps.

Sources

When a source is not in English, follow the link for the official wording.

Frequently asked

The questions people actually ask.

Is wild camping legal in Lithuania?

Not away from a site. Point 6 of the Lankymosi miške taisyklės, the forest visiting rules approved by Environment Minister order D1-849 of 15 November 2013 in the version of 7 April 2020, states that natural persons may stop for rest in forests only at equipped public-use recreation objects. Point 15.1 forbids lighting fires and using open flame except at the fire places built and marked at those objects. Verified on e-seimas.lrs.lt on 24 August 2026.

What is the difference between a poilsiavietė and a stovyklavietė?

One is for sleeping and the other is not, and the signs use the words. Under the Regional Parks Regulations, a poilsiavietė is ground for stopping temporarily without an overnight stay, an atokvėpio vieta is short-term rest without an overnight stay, and a stovyklavietė is ground intended for rest with an overnight stay, which may have parking, cooking equipment, fire places and sanitation. Look for stovyklavietė or kempingas if you intend to sleep. Verified on the Dzūkija-Suvalkija protected areas directorate site on 24 August 2026.

Where do I find the sites?

Two official maps. Valstybinių miškų urėdija, the state forest enterprise, publishes a recreation objects map covering more than 1,100 sites: trails, stovyklavietės, poilsiavietės, atokvėpio vietos, viewing platforms and parks. The State Service for Protected Areas publishes a separate map of stovyklavietės, kempingai and poilsiavietės inside national and regional parks, along with the fire places. Between them you can plan a route off published sites rather than guesswork.

Can I drive into the forest to reach a spot?

Only on roads. Point 11 of the forest visiting rules permits entering and moving through the forest with motor vehicles only on roads, and point 12 permits parking only in designated parking areas or at the edge of the road. That rules out pulling off onto the forest floor to find a pitch.

Can a motorhome use these sites?

Sometimes, and the park administrations say which. In Veisiejai Regional Park, for example, the directorate states that the campground Saulėtekis is the only place in the park where you may stay with a caravan or motorhome. Elsewhere a stovyklavietė with a car park may take a van comfortably. Check the individual site entry rather than assuming, and read the sign at the entrance when you arrive.

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