Pazurek Nature Reserve

On 28 June 1947, despite an early and warm spring, the speleologist Kazimierz Kowalski found plenty of ice at the bottom of a rock shaft in Cisowa Skała – that is how Omszała Studnia (Mossy Well), one of the larger caves of today's Pazurek reserve, was discovered. This fragment of the old Olkusz Forest between the villages of Pazurek and Jaroszowiec protects beech woods with wild garlic and orchids, and 11 groups of limestone rocks with canyons, rock shelters and caves.

Beech forest and orchids

The reserve was created in 2008 and covers 187.91 ha within the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park and the Natura 2000 site "Jaroszowiec". It protects fertile Sudeten-type beech forest, warmth-loving orchid beech forest, acidic beech forest and sycamore woodland with hart's-tongue fern. About 300 species of vascular plants have been recorded, more than 20 of them protected – among them wild garlic, hard shield fern and orchids such as coralroot, broad-leaved helleborine and several Cephalanthera helleborines. In spring the forest floor is covered with flowers before the beech canopy closes and shades it.

The rocks: from Zubowe Skały to Cisowa Avenue

• Zubowe Skały – the highest and most impressive group in the reserve, with walls up to 18 m; climbers named the individual rocks Babka I and II, Biała, Główny Mur, Boczny Mur, Kwadratowa, Ostatnia and Zielona Ściana.
• Cisowa Skała (about 430 m) – in the south of the reserve; on its summit two parallel rows of rocks form a narrow passage known as Cisowa Avenue or the Yew Canyon. Cavers have described more than a dozen caves and shelters here.
• Mała Skałka by the red trail, and outcrops on Jastrząbka and the Olkusz Ridge (Grzęda Olkuska).

Climbing was banned when the reserve was created; since June 2019 it has again been allowed only under specific conditions, so check the current rules before touching the rock.

Nearby

Right next to the reserve rises Januszkowa Góra (449 m), named after a legendary outlaw called Januszek. A fenced opening a little below its summit leads into Januszkowa Szczelina, regarded as the third-deepest cave of the whole Kraków-Częstochowa Upland and accessible only to equipped cavers. A few kilometres away stand the ruins of Rabsztyn Castle.

Tripto tip

A circular nature trail with 12 stops and information boards runs through the reserve, together with a green trail branching off the Eagles' Nests Trail. According to Visit Małopolska the loop is just over 5 km, with wooden steps and handrails set between the rock walls. You can reach the reserve on a blue link trail from Jaroszowiec railway station or from the forest car park by regional road 783 (Olkusz–Wolbrom) near Pazurek. Entry is free all year, but paths get slippery after heavy rain and in winter. Allow 2–3 hours for the loop with stops at the rocks. Keep dogs on a lead and stay on marked paths.