Kozy Quarry

The wall of the old quarry in Kozy shows how layers of sandstone and shale – black, green and bluish-grey – settled on the sea floor over millions of years. For more than 80 years stone for roads and railways was extracted here; today the site belongs to the municipality and is used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. From the quarry terraces the view stretches from Bielsko-Biała to Lake Goczałkowice, and in good visibility even to part of Kraków.

History: stone that rode a cable line

The quarry on the slopes of Chrobacza Łąka was opened in 1910 on the initiative of the local landowner, Marian Czecz. In 1910–1912 a 2,510 m aerial ropeway was built to carry the stone to the railway station in the village centre. Remarkably, it had no motor – it was driven purely by the weight of the descending stone. Between the wars the quarry employed 280 people, and at its peak up to 200 tonnes of stone a day were extracted. After the war it was run as a state enterprise; the ropeway was dismantled in the 1970s or early 1980s and stone was moved by lorry instead. In 1992 the company went bankrupt, and quarrying ended on 1 September that year.

What to see

• The Lgota beds exposure – rhythmic Carpathian flysch about 100 million years old, listed in Poland's Central Register of Geosites as a site of national importance.
• The quarry pond at 545 m – 0.84 ha in area and up to 2 m deep, fed by rock seepage and rainwater.
• A wagon from the old ropeway, displayed as a reminder of the site's industrial past.
• The view over the Silesian Foothills – from the terraces you can see Kozy, Bielsko-Biała, Czechowice-Dziedzice, Pszczyna, Kęty and Andrychów, and far to the west the Jeseníky mountains in the Czech Republic.

Nature

The quarry lies within the Beskid Mały Landscape Park and the Natura 2000 site "Beskid Mały". Several endangered orchid species grow here, and dedicated protection sites have been set up for variegated horsetail and small-flowered broomrape. North-east of the quarry is an artificial reservoir known as Wilczy Staw (Wolf Pond), surrounded by Douglas firs that are exotic to the Carpathians.

Tripto tip

The quarry lies on the green trail from Kozy to Hrobacza Łąka (828 m) and on the Papal Trail – from the quarry it's another 270 m or so of climbing to the summit. The whole green trail from Kozy to Hrobacza Łąka is 5.5 km long and takes about 2 hrs 15 mins uphill (about 1 hr 25 mins down), so the quarry plus the summit makes a good half-day outing. Municipal rules forbid walking on the slopes or going near the cliff edges, driving motor vehicles, lighting fires outside designated places and swimming in the pond without a permit from Kozy council. Amateur fishing is allowed, and children under 13 may only be by the water with an adult.