Komoniecki Cave

"There is a great rock with water running over it, and beneath it a hole into which a hundred head of cattle could be driven" – this is how Andrzej Komoniecki, the mayor of Żywiec, described the spot in 1704 in his chronicle Dziejopis Żywiecki. The rock shelter on the slopes of the Little Beskids still bears his name. Komoniecki Cave is the largest erosion cave in the Polish Carpathians, and 50 metres below it the Dusiołek – the largest waterfall in the Little Beskids – tumbles down.

A cave that is a single chamber

The cave lies in the headwaters of the Dusica stream at roughly 700–750 m above sea level, on the slopes of Pośredni Groń, a spur of Smrekowica, within the village of Las in the Ślemień district. It is a single low chamber of about 115 m², reaching 11 m into the rock. The entrance is about 2 m high and 15–16 m wide, partly blocked by a boulder that fell from the roof; inside you mostly have to stoop. A small stream pours over the rock slab above the entrance – in winter it freezes into icy "plaits", when the cave looks its most spectacular. It has been a protected natural monument since 1993.

Campfires, horses and partisans

Between 1986 and 1992 interdisciplinary research was carried out here. Archaeologists found the remains of a large hearth, pottery fragments from the first half of the 17th century and, in front of the entrance, a sandstone flake that may indicate human presence as early as the end of the Ice Age. According to local tradition, during the Second World War farmers from Targoszów hid their horses here from the occupiers – around 50 in January 1945 – and the cave also sheltered partisans. It was "discovered" for tourism in May 1983 by Aleksy Siemionow of the Wadowice branch of the Polish Tourist Society, who first used the name "Komoniecki Cave".

What to see

• The cave mouth with its rock slab and falling water – hung with icicles and ice columns in winter.
• Dusiołek waterfall about 50 m below, roughly 4 m wide and 5 m high.
• Elongated ledges and niches on the east wall, once carved by flowing water.

Tripto tip

The easiest approach follows a side road from the Żywiec – Sucha Beskidzka road along the Dusica (about 1.5 hours); the yellow trail from the "Anula" junction to the village of Las also passes nearby. The terrain is mountainous, rocky, slippery after rain and icy in winter – wear boots with good grip and carry an offline map. The cave lies in the area of the Madohora nature reserve, which was enlarged to 447 ha in 2026, and the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice points out that caves in nature reserves in the Silesian Voivodeship are closed to visitors all year round. View the cave from outside, do not go in, and check the current access rules on the website of the directorate or the Little Beskids Landscape Park before you set off.