Roztoka Valley

Some of the spruces in this valley have been growing for more than 300 years, and a few for as long as 400 – it is one of the best-preserved natural forests in the Tatra Mountains. Roztoka Valley (Dolina Roztoki) leads from the Białka valley deep into the High Tatras, up to the rock step over which Siklawa, the highest waterfall in Poland, plunges. For most hikers it is simply the way to the Valley of Five Polish Ponds, but it deserves to be a destination in its own right.

A valley carved by a glacier

Roztoka Valley branches off the Białka valley opposite the Biała Woda clearing. It is about 4.4 km long and covers 7 km²; together with the Valley of Five Polish Ponds, its upper storey, it measures about 7.5 km and 13.5 km². It is a classic U-shaped valley carved by a glacier along a major tectonic fault. A rock step at about 1,550–1,570 m separates it from the Five Ponds Valley, and on its sides hang two smaller hanging valleys, Dolinka Buczynowa and Świstówka Roztocka.

The Roztoka stream, which flows out of the Great Polish Pond, runs along the valley floor. About 120 m from the lake it forms Siklawa, and about a kilometre before it joins the Białka it tumbles over the cascades of Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza (Mickiewicz Falls). The valley takes its name from the Carpathian word "roztoka", meaning a place where streams meet.

Nature

Spruce forest grows up to about 1,370 m, giving way higher up to stone pine mixed with larch. The slopes are cut by gullies down which avalanches sweep to the valley floor in spring, leaving clear strips through the forest. This is a strictly protected area and a refuge for red deer, chamois and bears, and among the dwarf pine grows a whitebeam species that is rare in Poland.

History

People have walked through Roztoka Valley to the Five Ponds for a long time – in the 19th century visitors included Stanisław Staszic, the poet Seweryn Goszczyński and the geologist Ludwik Zejszner. The trail was waymarked in 1899. As early as 1876 a mountain hut named after the poet Wincenty Pol was built on the Stara Roztoka clearing at the mouth of the valley; it still operates today at about 1,031 m.

Trails

• Palenica Białczańska – Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza – about 40 minutes on the paved road (red trail towards Morskie Oko).
• Wodogrzmoty – Stara Roztoka hut – about 15 minutes down the green trail.
• Wodogrzmoty – fork below Niżnia Kopa – on the green trail along a broad track through the valley, about 1 hour 25 minutes.
• From there the green trail passes Siklawa into the Five Ponds Valley (about 45 minutes), and the black trail zigzags up to the Five Ponds hut (about 40 minutes).

Tripto tip

The green trail section past Siklawa is closed in winter because of avalanche danger – then use the black trail to the Five Ponds or skip the hike altogether. The valley lies within Tatra National Park, so buy an entry ticket and check park notices and the weather forecast before setting out – conditions in the Tatras change quickly. The Palenica Białczańska car park fills up fast in season, so book a space in advance. A walk to Wodogrzmoty and the hut takes about 2 hours there and back, while the full route through the valley to the Five Ponds and back is a whole day in hiking boots.