Kościeliska Valley

Limestone rock gates, caves, meadows with shepherds' huts and a stream that has carved a gorge over thousands of years — the Kościeliska Valley is the second-largest valley in the Polish Tatras and the richest in karst features. A gentle trail runs along the valley floor from Kiry to the mountain hut on Hala Ornak, with side paths to Frosty Cave, Dragon's Den and Kraków Gorge. Tourists have been coming here since 1815, and the geologist Ludwik Zejszner considered it more beautiful than the famous valleys of Switzerland and Tyrol.

The valley in numbers

The valley is about 9 km long and covers 35 km². It starts in Kiry at about 927 m above sea level and reaches all the way to the main ridge of the Tatras; the highest point around it is Błyszcz (2,159 m). The lower and middle sections form a deep gorge whose walls close in at three points: the Kantak Gate, the Kraszewski Gate and the Raptawicka Gate. The upper part was shaped by Pleistocene glaciers — the tongue of the glacier from the Pyszna Valley was 4.8 km long, and Smreczyński Pond formed in one of the glacial hollows.

History: miners, highwaymen and shepherds

From the end of the 15th century silver, copper and antimony were mined here, later mainly iron ore. On the Stare Kościeliska meadow there were smelting furnaces, a water-powered forge, an inn and a chapel, until the unprofitable ironworks closed in 1841. A route to Slovakia ran through the valley and over the Tomanowa Pass, where highwaymen lay in wait for merchants — names such as Zbójnickie Okna ("Robbers' Windows") and Zbójnicka Turnia ("Robbers' Crag") recall them. Up to 3,000 sheep and several hundred cattle grazed on 9 mountain pastures; grazing ended after the national park was created, and since the 1990s controlled traditional grazing has returned to a few meadows.

What to see

• The green trail from Kiry to Hala Ornak: 5.5 km, about 1 hr 40 min, 273 m of ascent.
• The highwaymen's chapel on Stare Kościeliska and the Icy Spring right beside the path.
• Frosty Cave (Jaskinia Mroźna, 773 m) — the only paid cave in the Polish Tatras, open from May to the end of October; since it reopened in 2023 you need your own torch.
• Kraków Gorge with Dragon's Den and the Mylna, Raptawicka and Obłazkowa caves — in places with chains and ladders, for fit walkers.
• Smreczyński Pond, about 30 minutes along the black trail from the Hala Ornak hut.

Did you know?

The valley holds several hundred caves and rock shelters, including part of Great Snow Cave — the longest and deepest in Poland. Right at the valley entrance, the Tatra National Park opened an underground education centre, "Tatra Archive of Planet Earth", in May 2024. Writers such as Seweryn Goszczyński, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer and Stefan Żeromski drew inspiration here.

Tripto tips

You can reach Kiry from Zakopane by bus or minibus; there are paid car parks at the valley entrance. Cars and bikes are banned in the valley, and the national park entrance fee is paid on site. For a fee, horse-drawn carriages take visitors to Polana Pisana, and sleighs run in winter. In season this is one of the most crowded places in the Tatras — set off before 9:00. Allow 4 hours for the valley to the hut and back, and a full day with the caves. For the caves, bring a head torch, gloves and shoes with good grip.