Czartowe Pole Nature Reserve

The Sopot river, usually calm and sandy, suddenly picks up speed at Czartowe Pole. It cuts into the edge zone of the Roztocze hills, jumps over irregular, jagged rock steps and flows like a mountain stream. Above the gorge, among fir trees, stand the walls of a former paper mill of the Zamoyski family estate, which in the 19th century produced most of the paper in the Lublin province.

The devil's meadow and the reserve

The name means "Devil's Field" and comes from a legend: on the forest clearing by the mill "only devils danced", and they were blamed for the recurring floods and fires. The landscape and forest reserve was established in 1958; according to the Józefów Forest District it covers 80.07 ha. It protects the gorge of the Sopot valley with its cascades and the ruins of the 18th-century paper mill. It lies in the Puszcza Solska Landscape Park, in the Susiec municipality.

The waterfalls are up to about 50 cm high. The river has washed away sandy deposits down to harder bedrock, whose unevenness created the steps and small sandy islands. Thanks to the steep gradient, the water is fast and clear – good conditions for grayling and brown trout, fish more typical of mountain streams.

The Zamoyski paper mill

The mill of the Zamoyski estate was built in 1741. In the early 19th century it was leased by, among others, Lejbuś Kahan and later Cała Wax, owner of a Hebrew printing house in nearby Józefów. In the 1830s it produced about 4,000 reams of paper, roughly 80% of the output of the Lublin province, in nine grades from wrapping paper to office and stamp paper. Floods (sources differ: 1848 or 1849, then 1870) and a fire in 1883 destroyed the mill, and rebuilding it did not pay off. The rare limestone fern grows on the walls of the ruins.

What to see

• The "Czartowe Pole" nature trail – about 2 km with 9 boards, marked with white squares with blue diagonal stripes. It leads through pine forest, down wooden steps into the valley and past the mill ruins.
• The Sopot cascades – best seen from above, from the path running along the steep edge of the gorge.
• An obelisk from 1931 inscribed "Here we drew strength and health to continue serving our homeland", erected by the Military Medical Cadet School during summer manoeuvres, and symbolic graves of partisans killed in 1943.
• Old fir trees – some are 120–160 years old and up to 120 cm in diameter.
• Rare plants – including mezereon, maidenhair and green spleenwort, goat's beard and spotted orchid.

Tripto tips

Drive west from Susiec through Oseredek (about 8 km). Leave the car at the forest car park by the bridge over the Sopot, before the houses of Hamernia – the trail starts here. On foot you can arrive via the red Szlak Krawędziowy trail. Allow 1–2 hours for the walk. Keep an eye on children at the railing above the gorge and take care on the wooden steps after rain. In 2026, after a forest fire in the Puszcza Solska, the Józefów Forest District temporarily closed parts of the Dębowce and Fryszarka forest sections. The reserve lies in a different section (Karczmisko), but check the current map of forest closures before you go. About 2.5 km to the east is the Nowiny quarry with its viewing platform, and in Susiec the Szlak Szumów trail sets off towards the Nad Tanwią reserve.