Rock Outcrops and Climbing in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland

The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, better known as the Jura, is a belt of white limestone outcrops stretching about 80 km between Kraków and Częstochowa. The towers are built of hard Upper Jurassic limestones, and their present shapes were carved by karst processes in the warm Tertiary climate — rock resistant to erosion survived as walls tens of metres high. The region's official name, introduced in 1947, is the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

The most famous rocks

The calling cards of the region are the Club of Hercules by Pieskowa Skała and the Kraków Gate in Ojców. In the north stand out the Great Okiennik near Morsko — a giant tower pierced by a tunnel — and the nature-reserve hill of Zborów. Also noteworthy are the twin-pillared Bolechowice Gate and Dupa Słonia in the Będkowska Valley.

The capital of Polish climbing

Apart from the Tatras, there is hardly a more convenient training ground. The most popular sectors are the Stone Town of Podzamcze below Ogrodzieniec, the Kroczyce, Podlesice and Rzędkowice rocks and the Kraków Valleys. A single rock may carry many routes, and their protection is systematically re-equipped. Nearly all of Poland's famous Himalayan climbers — Wanda Rutkiewicz and Jerzy Kukuczka among them, and later Martyna Wojciechowska — began their climbing here.

For the tourist

Along the upland run the castles of the Trail of the Eagles' Nests — medieval strongholds that once guarded the border of the Polish Kingdom. Climbing can be dangerous: beginners should go with an instructor, and many climbing schools operate in the area.