Fort Karol (Fort Carl), Table Mountains

On top of Ptak Hill (841 m), a ten-minute walk from the Road of a Hundred Bends, stand the remains of a Prussian guardhouse built in 1790. From its rocky platform, Szczeliniec Wielki and the village of Karłów look like a scale model. Fort Karol was meant to watch the border with Austria, and its construction gave the Table Mountains something quite unexpected: the first officially appointed mountain guide in history.

History: a guardhouse on the border of two states

The fort was built on the orders of King Frederick William II of Prussia as a small guardhouse with a garrison of a few men. It was to guard the Prussian–Austrian border and the road to Radków, today's Road of a Hundred Bends, and to work together with the fortress at Srebrna Góra. The builder was Bonaventura von Rauch, helped by his son Gustav, a fresh graduate of the engineering academy in Potsdam who later became a Prussian general and minister of war. It was named after Emperor Charles VI.

Rauch was assisted by the head of Karłów village, Franz Pabel. As a reward for his help with the construction, Pabel became the first officially appointed mountain guide in history, with the right to charge tourists a fee. Viewing terraces were opened on Szczeliniec and at the fort at that time. Political changes halted the work, and in the 19th century the fort was abandoned and fell into ruin.

The Table Mountains National Park explains in its tourism strategy why so little survives: at the end of the 18th century a fort and a gun battery were built on Ptak, and a blockhouse near Szczeliniec Mały, all as semi-permanent fortifications largely made of earth and timber. What remains today are mainly the stone parts.

What to see

• The courtyard, 10 × 14 m, once enclosed by walls.
• Remains of the perimeter wall with part of the gate and a window opening.
• Stone steps leading up to the viewing platform; the walls were built of local sandstone and incorporate natural rock.
• A pedestal marking the points of the compass, set into the platform.
• The panorama of Szczeliniec Wielki, Karłów and the surrounding table-top plateaus.

The fort sits on the edge of Ptak's northern slope, which drops several metres in vertical walls. The hill itself is covered in spruce forest, so the view only opens up from the platform.

Tripto tip

The shortest route starts at Lisia Przełęcz (Fox Pass) on the Road of a Hundred Bends: it is about 10 minutes' walk from the car park, and the whole visit takes 20–30 minutes. The yellow trail from Duszniki-Zdrój to Karłów passes next to the fort. The fort is a popular sunset spot, as the evening light falls on Szczeliniec. The park's own planning documents list the railings at the fort's terrace among items needing repair, so take care near the edge, especially with children. The visit combines easily with the Narożnik and Białe Skały rocks or with a climb up Szczeliniec Wielki from Karłów.