Stolowe Mountains National Park

The only table mountains in Poland and among the few in Europe: a sandstone plateau with flat summits and rock labyrinths, protected as a national park since 16 September 1993 — one of 23 in the country. The highest points are Szczeliniec Wielki (919 m a.s.l.) and Skalniak (915 m), and the ridges are cut by deep crevices and rock formations of shapes you will not find anywhere else in Poland.

A sea from 100 million years ago

In the Late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, today's mountains were the floor of a sea. Rivers carried in sand that formed almost horizontally bedded jointed sandstone. Tens of millions of years of erosion then carved the plateaus, narrow fissures and oddly shaped rock towers out of the slab — the effect is visible at every step.

Szczeliniec and the Errant Rocks

A labyrinth of steps cut into the rock leads to the summit of Szczeliniec Wielki, which opens onto a panorama of the entire Kłodzko region. Błędne Skały is a path winding between sandstone walls — in some passages you have to squeeze through sideways. The landscape inspired the makers of "The Chronicles of Narnia" — especially easy to believe when fog settles between the rocks.

How to plan your visit

The park lies near the Czech border, on the north-western edge of the Kłodzko region; its Czech continuation is the Broumov Highlands. The most convenient bases are the spa towns of the buffer zone: Kudowa-Zdrój, Duszniki-Zdrój and Polanica-Zdrój. The trails to Szczeliniec and Błędne Skały are technically easy, but the labyrinths deliver plenty of thrills — allow a few hours for both reserves and, in high season, arrive early, ahead of the crowds.