Góry Towarne

These two bare limestone hills outside Olsztyn look as if someone had stacked white bales of goods on the grass, and according to one theory that's exactly where their name comes from (towar means goods in Polish). Góry Towarne hide a cave where cave bear bones and traces of prehistoric people were found. Geologists point to something even rarer: rocks smoothed by a glacier, which in Poland are seldom seen outside the Tatra and Sudeten mountains.

Where the white rocks came from

Góry Towarne is a twin-peaked hill near the village of Kusięta in the Olsztyn municipality, about 2 km north of Olsztyn. Its two tops, Góry Towarne Duże (Large) and Góry Towarne Małe (Small), both reach 343 m above sea level. They are made of Upper Jurassic limestone about 150 million years old. In a warm, shallow sea, organisms built bioherms, reef-like structures made not by corals but by sponges, cyanobacteria and bacteria. The result was a massive, unbedded limestone that resists erosion. When the softer, layered limestones around it wore away in the Tertiary, the hard rock was left standing as tors.

The most intriguing clue for geologists is glacial erosion: rocks ground by ice into roches moutonnées, smooth rounded humps (such as the one on Góry Towarne Duże). The Polish Geological Institute lists the hills in its Central Register of Geosites. There are two explanations for the name: either the rocks piled on top of each other like rolls of goods, or Towarowa Street, which leads out of Olsztyn.

The caves

Góry Towarne Duże has several caves and rock shelters. The largest, Jaskinia Towarna, also called the Bear Cave, is about 170 m long. Between the world wars, cave bear bones and traces of prehistoric people were found inside. Cavers later discovered that the neighbouring Dzwonnica cave connects to it through a narrow crack, and together they now form the Towarne Cave System. Its large entrance lies at the western foot of the rock called Grota. There are also the Cabanowa and Kopana caves and rock shelters on both hills. They draw cavers, but they're not show caves, so without equipment and experience stay outside.

What to see above ground

• Płyta, the summit rock of Góry Towarne Duże, with a vertical 16-metre wall on its north-west side.
• Grota, with the entrance to Jaskinia Towarna.
• Bałwanek, Kogutek and Przekładaniec on Góry Towarne Małe, popular climbing crags.
• The panorama from the open summit of Góry Towarne Małe.

Both hills are protected as an ecological site and lie within the Natura 2000 area "Ostoja Olsztyńsko-Mirowska". The rocks and grassland are protected, so keep to the trodden paths.

Tripto tip

• Getting there: walk from Olsztyn along the red Eagles' Nests Trail towards Kusięta. On the road from Olsztyn to Kusięta, in the woods on the left, there's a parking area with information boards.
• Time needed: allow 1.5–2 hours for both hills.
• Conditions: the ridges are open with no shade and the ground is stony, so bring water and a hat in summer.
• Rules: don't enter the caves without equipment and experience, don't damage the grassland and stick to the paths, as this is a protected area.
• Nearby: the ruins of Olsztyn Castle and Biakło, the "Little Giewont" of the Jura.