Nature
Las Wolski covers 419 hectares in western Krakow, clothing the highest hills of the Sowiniec ridge: Sowiniec (358 m above sea level), Pustelnik (352 m) and Srebrna Gora (317 m). In 1917 the area was bought by the City of Krakow Savings Bank and handed to the city as a public park — ever since it has served as the town's green playground.
Within the forest operates the zoo, present here since 1929. On Sowiniec rises the Pilsudski Mound, heaped up in 1934-1937 and measuring about 35 m in height — from its top you can see a large part of Krakow. On Srebrna Gora in Bielany stands the early-Baroque Camaldolese monastery from the early 17th century, still inhabited by hermit monks.
The network of paths amounts to some 40 km, and the most popular route is the Trail of Two Mounds, leading from Salwator through Sikornik and the Maiden Rocks to the Pilsudski Mound. The forest protects three nature reserves: Bielany Rocks (1950), Maiden Rocks (1953) and Przegorzaly Rocks (1959). Climbing is banned in the reserves but allowed on the Wolski Wall and the Kawalerskie Rocks. 32 tree species grow here, and small caves hide in the rocks, such as the Cave in Zielony Dol.
Buses 134 and 102 will bring you to the forest. Plan half a day for a leisurely loop with the climb to the mound; combining the zoo, the mound and the Maiden Rocks gives you a full cross-section of the area. The trails are also comfortable for cyclists.
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