Lisi Jar (Fox Ravine)

Between Jastrzębia Góra and Rozewie the coast is cut by a narrow ravine that takes you from the clifftop straight down to the beach. Lisi Jar – "Fox Ravine" – is only about 350 metres long, but in places it is 50 metres deep, and its slopes are covered with beech woods more than a century old. At the entrance stands an obelisk with a globe and an eagle, recalling the story of King Sigismund III Vasa coming ashore here.

A ravine the sea keeps eating

Lisi Jar lies within the Coastal Landscape Park (Nadmorski Park Krajobrazowy) and is part of Jastrzębia Góra in the municipality of Władysławowo. It is an erosion gully cut into the upland that ends at the Baltic shore. Popular descriptions say the ravine was once much longer and that the sea, undercutting the cliff, has shortened it to today's stretch. Many of the beeches on the slopes are over a hundred years old and form a dense, shady wood. Steps lead down to the bottom, and a path continues onto the beach.

A king, a ship and Count de Rosset

After 1920 the then owner of the land, Count Aleksander de Rosset, built a tourist hostel called "Nad Lisim Jarem" at the entrance to the ravine, described as the first seaside tourist hostel in Poland. In 1932 he also put up an obelisk topped with a globe and an eagle about to take flight. It commemorates the tradition that a ship carrying Sigismund III Vasa, returning from his expedition for the Swedish crown, was wrecked nearby and the king came ashore here; the year usually given is 1594. The obelisk still stands, with plaques on its base telling the story.

Tripto tip

You reach the ravine from Rozewska Street in Jastrzębia Góra – the obelisk stands right by the start of the path. Walking down to the beach, looking around the ravine and climbing back takes about 30–45 minutes. The way down involves steps, so with a pushchair choose another beach access. The walk combines easily with the lighthouses on nearby Cape Rozewie and the Jastrzębia Góra promenade; access is free and open at all times.