Pod Muflonem PTTK Mountain Hostel

The hostel's name comes neither from a legend nor from a map: a stuffed mouflon head with massive curled horns hangs in the dining room. The PTTK "Pod Muflonem" ("Under the Mouflon") hostel stands at 690 m on the slopes of Ptasia Góra (745 m) in the north-western Bystrzyckie Mountains, and from the clearing in front you can see Duszniki-Zdrój and the escarpment of the Table Mountains. From the spa park in Duszniki you can walk up in under an hour.

History: from dairy to beer garden

The first inn opened in the first half of the 19th century on a former livestock farm and was known for its dairy dishes. By the end of the century dairy had lost its appeal and the inn switched to beer; at the same time the first overnight guests arrived, and a toboggan run operated here until it was dismantled in the 1970s. After the Second World War the hostel was run first by the state travel agency Orbis and then by PTTK, the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society. In 1959 the building burned down; reconstruction was completed in 1963.

What to see

• The mouflon head in the dining room – the hostel's namesake and its most photographed "resident".
• The "Bolko" ash – a broad old ash tree beside the gable of the building, protected as a natural monument.
• The view from the clearing and terraces – over Duszniki-Zdrój, the Duszniki basin and the Table Mountains plateau.

Trails

Several trails meet at the hostel. The red trail comes from Polanica-Zdrój via Wolarz, and the blue one runs from Karłów through Duszniki-Zdrój and on via the Spalona Pass to the "Jagodna" hostel. Keen walkers can continue to Szczeliniec Wielki: the route via Duszniki, Łężyce, Skały Puchacza and Lisia Przełęcz is 15.7 km long and takes about 5 hours.

Tripto tip

The hostel has 48 beds in rooms for 2 to 6 people and serves meals all day. It is about 1.4 km uphill on the trail from the spa park in Duszniki-Zdrój, which makes it a good short walk for spa guests. An hour is enough for lunch, the mouflon and the view. Beware of old search results: the podmuflonem.pl domain is no longer the hostel's website, so check contact details and prices through current PTTK sources.