Kowadło in the Golden Mountains

Kowadło (989 m above sea level) is a border peak in the southern part of the Golden Mountains in the Eastern Sudetes, rising above the village of Bielice. The Germans called it Schmiedekoppe and the Czechs Kovadlina; on the Polish side it formally counts as the highest summit of the Golden Mountains, a point of the Crown of Polish Mountains and of the Crown of Lower Silesian Mountains.

Why Kowadło?

The peak owes its primacy to the conventional course of the range boundary: the formally higher Postawna (1117 or 1124 m) is often assigned to the Bialskie Mountains, and lacking any marked trails it never competed for the Crown. On Kowadło's dome-shaped summit a Crown of Polish Mountains stamp and plaque await, and among young spruces gneiss rock outcrops come to light. The summit is forested, so look for views through gaps in the trees.

The trail from Bielice

The shortest route follows the green trail from Bielice: from the free car park by the forester's lodge it is about 4 km return and about an hour of ascent, with two steep forest climbs among roots. From the same trailhead a green path leads to Rudawiec (1112 m); combining both summits makes a hike of some 16 km.

A golden history

The name of the whole range recalls its former riches: in the 16th century the Kłodzko land was gripped by a gold rush centred on Złoty Stok, where a gold mine still operates today. When planning the trip, add the Bear Cave and the Uranium Mine in Kletno — both lie 12–13 km from Bielice, and tickets are best booked in advance. Phone signal on the trail is patchy, so an offline map is advisable.