Fairy-Tale Garden in the Silesian Beskids

On the slope of Grabowa above Brenna, around the Chata Grabowa mountain hut, the hosts are Svarog, the Noon Witch and the Water Demon. The Fairy-Tale Garden is an open-air themed trail with characters from the legends and folk tales of the Silesian Beskids, and you cannot drive to it – you have to walk up a trail. That makes it a good goal for a family hike: children look out for the next figure while adults relax with a view of the Czantoria range.

Four elements

The garden is divided into four zones: fire, air, water and earth. Each is assigned figures from Slavic demonology and belief: Svarog, Rarog, Radogost, Svetovid, Dziewanna and Kupała, as well as the Noon Witch (Południca), Domovoi, Dvorovoi, Skarbnik (the mine spirit), the Water Demon (Utopiec), Płanetnik (the weather spirit) and three water nymphs (rusałki). Walking between the zones is a good opportunity to tell children what Skarbnik guarded in the old beliefs and why it was wiser to keep away from water where the Utopiec lived.

The garden surrounds Chata Grabowa, a private highland-style mountain hut (Brenna, ul. Grabowa 52). Older hikers remember a completely different building of the same name on this spot. Grabowa itself (907 m) is an almost flat, wooded ridge; its meadows were mentioned in documents of the Duchy of Cieszyn as early as 1689.

How to get there

• Black trail from Brenna via Malina and Horzelica: 5.1 km, about 1 h 50 min up and 1 h 15 min down.
• Utopiec Fairy-Tale Trail from central Brenna along the Hołcyna valley: 6.5 km, about 2 h.
• From above: from the Salmopolska Pass along the red trail over Biały Krzyż (940 m), then down the black trail – just under 800 m to the hut.

Tripto tips

The hike is easy to extend: from the hut the black trail runs 2 km along the ridge to Stary Groń, where a 12-metre wooden viewing tower stands – 40 steps, free and open at all times. From the top you can see the Hołcyna and Brennica valleys, Skrzyczne, Równica and the Czantoria range, among others. Allow half a day for the climb, the garden and the descent, and wear proper hiking shoes. The hut does not publish opening hours, so if you are coming with a group, call ahead.