Scenic rocks and mazes in the National Park Góry Stolowe

The Stolowe mountains are formed by an extensive massif which is the most attractive in the area of former Central Sudety for its nature and panorama. In our trip we will concentrate on discovering two rock clusters which belong among the most sought-after by the tourists. Except the mazes of the sandstone rocks and views of the distant region you will have the possibility to meet  the local peculiar folk architecture.

It is recommended to start this trip in a small mountain town Karlów. You can get there from Kudowa Zdrój by car or by bus which has to climb up the hairpin bends to an elevated plateau surrounded by typical table mountains which gave the area its name. Karlów itself is a small town founded in 1730 upon a command  of the emperor Charles VI who made it a settlement for 12 colonists. The old houses made of wood and bricks from the 18th and 19th century are preserved even today and the settlement is a famous tourist centre. You can get some refreshments there and buy some souvenirs for Czech Crowns which you can have exchanged from the Polish Zloty by the attentive shop assistants. You will need the Polish currency to buy tickets to visit both rock clusters. 

To see the first one of them – Szczeliniec Wielki - we set out from the car park following the yellow track up into the rocks. Szczeliniec Wielki is a typical table mountain surrounded from all sides by sheer rock sides. Together with the neighbouring much wider and more extensive Bor it forms the dominant feature of the region. On the plateau Szczeliniec Wielki there is a huge tableland bound from almost all sides by a 60 m tall rock walls  finished in a rock plateau with the dimensions of 600 x 300 m and with beautiful rock clusters („rock town“). On the west there is a smaller plateau Szczeliniec M. (895 m) separated by a pass in the height of 867 m. To be able to explore this remarkable work of nature we have to manage to go up 665 stone stairs which lead to to the pass between Szczeliniec M. and Szczeliniec Wielki. There we join the blue track going up to the PTTK lodge where there are beautiful scenic views of the Polish and Czech side from the northern terraces. The paid tourist circuit of the rock cluster which costs 5 Polish Zloty per person begins behind the lodge situated on a high rock scarp. Except the deep clefts and chasms (Piekielko, Diabelska Kuchnia) there are mazes, tunnels and sporadic rock formations with the most famous one called Malpolud which is the symbol of Szczeliniec Wielki. After walking through the whole circuit we go down back on the red track to the entrance of the rock clusters.

Now we traverse on the blue track to the car park on the north-west part of the table mountain where we go down on a road to the picturesque mountain village of Pasterka. It was founded as early as in the 13th or 14th century by Czech colonists. Several nice log buildings have been preserved there until today. We go gradually down through the village on a road with almost no traffic around a baroque church of St. John the Baptist and finally we turn left on the green track. We pass the country house and go up through the meadows under the top of Pasterska Góra. We enter the mixed wood and start going down steeply along the Czech-Polish border to the tourist border crossing above Machovská Lhota. In a narrow saddle there is a beautiful view of the majestic mountain Bor with a unique rock maze called Błędne Skaly on the top. The first sight makes it clear that the following hour will be filled with a heavy climbing. First we will go on a road and then on a path in the wood around empty buildings steeply up. Finally the green marked paths in the wood take us to the entrance of Błędne Skały where we pay 5 ZŁ and set out on our next adventure. At the beginning we traverse around the rocks to the lookout directed mainly to the Czech side. Behind it we finally climb up to the maze of Błędne Skały. It is formed by an extensive almost symmetrical net of partly arched passages and clefts 6-8 m deep between the huge rock blocks. The wandering inside the maze of narrow rock corridors full of mysterious corners and dark hiding places is an unforgetable experience hardly compared to the experiences from other rock clusters in Central Europe.

Then we continue on the red track in direction Skalniak 1 h and Karłów 1,5 h. We go without any considerable vertical distance on a slightly wooded plateau of the vast table mountain with occasional views of the neighbouring Szczeliniec Wielki and Božanovský Špičák. In the end we go down to the saddle with a nice resting place and a guide-post. It is only 20 minutes back to Karlów from there. We recommend a small trip to the scenic view from Fort Karol where you can quickly climb in 5 minutes and your effort will be rewarded by a beautiful view of the Szczeliniec Wielki and other table mountains.

Now there is only the final downhill to the road to Karłów which will lead us back to our starting point.

Difficulty 2-3.

Total 22 km.