High over Plateliai

A peninsular plain juts out from the town of Plateliai into the lake of the same name—the largest here in the Samogitia region of northwestern Lithuania. Most of the nation's several thousand lakes are located at the opposite end of the country in the Baltic Highlands, so this 3,000-acre lake is a local treasure. It's also the centerpiece of Žemaitija National Park (named for an alternate spelling of Samogitia), an 84-square-mile protected area that includes the lake, the town, and the surrounding wilderness of thick forests and boggy wetlands.