Radochów Cave

In a side niche of Radochów Cave, researchers in the 1930s found a cave bear skull covered with a stone slab — and for years people wondered whether a Palaeolithic human had placed it there. This small karst cave in the Golden Mountains, a few kilometres from the spa town of Lądek-Zdrój, is now a guided route with a helmet and headlamp, without concrete walkways or coloured spotlights. The tour takes about 40 minutes and covers around 300 m of passages.

History: from spa excursion to natural monument

The cave lies in a lens of white marble at the foot of Bzowiec hill, in the valley of the Jaskiniec stream near the village of Radochów. It formed in the Pliocene, when water flowing under pressure dissolved the marble along tectonic fractures; larger chambers developed where these crossed. It was first mentioned in 1757, and soon afterwards became a popular outing for spa guests from Lądek. Heavy visitor numbers destroyed much of the dripstone — the old German names, such as "dripstone cave", are a reminder of its former splendour.

From 1933 to 1947 the cave had a permanent custodian and guide, a retired miner named Heinrich Peregrin. At the same time, between 1933 and 1939, most of the sediment that had almost completely filled the passages was removed. Before the war a wooden building with a waiting room and display cases of finds stood by the entrance; the cases were looted in the 1950s, and the building burned down in the late 1960s.

What the sediment revealed

Excavations in 1935–1936 yielded the bones of around 20 species of Pleistocene animals, including cave bear, cave hyena, wild horse and woolly rhinoceros. Next to the bear skull lay three neck vertebrae and a jawbone, and quartzite tools and charcoal were found in the deposits. The theory of Palaeolithic human presence has since been rejected, but the finds still made Radochów one of the best-studied caves in the Sudetes.

What you will see

• The Connecting Passage — a narrow, almost horizontal corridor running parallel to the hillside, with niches and chambers branching off it.
• The Gothic Chamber — a triangular hall with a karst pool of about 30 m² and around 2 m deep; the water level changes with the seasons.
• Dripstone — modest, partly damaged formations: woolly coatings, cascades and draperies.
• Bat roost — species such as the greater mouse-eared bat and the barbastelle hibernate here, which is why the cave is protected as a natural monument.

Tripto tip

According to the operator, the cave is open daily from 15 April to 30 September, 10:00–18:00, with last entry at 17:20; outside the season, visits can be arranged in advance. A standard ticket costs PLN 45, reduced PLN 40. Bring cash — mobile signal is weak, and BLIK (Polish mobile payment) only works on the meadow in front of the cave. Inside it stays at about 9 °C, part of the route involves squeezing through narrow gaps, and the minimum age for children is 3.5 years. You can reach the cave on the green trail from the bus stop in Radochów (about 30 minutes) or the blue trail from Lądek-Zdrój via the Calvary (about 80 minutes); a gravel road also leads up from Radochów.