Śnieżnik

On 2 January 2020 the Austrian Alps — the peaks of Schneeberg and Heukuppe, almost 290 km away — were photographed from the summit of Śnieżnik. At the time it was the longest-distance view ever recorded in Poland. Śnieżnik (1,425 m), the highest peak of the Śnieżnik Massif and the highest point of the Eastern Sudetes on the Polish side, is a gentle, treeless dome on the Czech border, with a new observation tower, fields of boulders and the source of one of the Czech Republic's largest rivers just below the top.

A mountain on the watershed

Śnieżnik sits on Europe's main watershed: here the state border follows the line from which streams on the Polish side flow to the Baltic and those on the Czech side to the Black Sea. In an Ice Age snow hollow on the southern slope, about 200 m from the summit, the Morava river rises. The mountain is the meeting point of six ridges and the only peak in the massif that rises above the tree line — above 1,250 m there are mountain meadows.

Its wildlife is the richest in the Sudetes, because Sudeten, Carpathian and Alpine species meet here. The slopes are covered with rock rubble formed in the cold climate of the last glaciation. The summit area above 1,150 m is a strict nature reserve of 192 ha, first established as early as 1938.

History: a fashionable peak and a blown-up tower

Tourism took off in 1838, when the mountain and its estates were bought by Princess Marianne of the Netherlands (of the House of Orange). On her orders a mountain hut was built in 1871 on the meadow below Śnieżnik, and it is still in use today. In 1895–1899 the Glatz Mountain Club built a stone tower on the summit in the style of a medieval keep — six storeys, 33.5 m high and named after Emperor Wilhelm I.

After the Second World War the tourist facilities declined. In 1971 the hut on the Czech side was demolished, and on 11 October 1973 the tower was blown up, even though it was not structurally unsound as was claimed. For almost half a century its rubble formed the high point of the mountain. A new observation tower was built on the same spot and opened on 26 September 2022.

What to see

• The observation tower, with views across the Sudetes and — in exceptionally clear air — far beyond.
• The stone elephant on the Czech side, next to the foundations of the old hut — a sculpture from 1932 that Czechs regard as the symbol of the mountain.
• Border marker V/69/10 on the summit; until December 2007 there was a hikers' border crossing here.
• The mountain hut on the meadow below Śnieżnik, dating from 1871 — a natural stop on the way.

Tripto tip

The easiest approach from the Polish side follows the red-marked Main Sudetes Trail from Międzygórze to the hut on the meadow below Śnieżnik, and from there to the summit. On the Czech side a trail climbs from Velká Morava. Above the tree line there is no shelter at all, so take a windproof jacket and a warm layer whatever the weather in the valley. Your best chance of long-distance views comes on cold, dry days in autumn and winter. Śnieżnik is one of the peaks of the Crown of Polish Mountains, and the trip combines well with the Bear Cave in Kletno, where remains of cave bears were discovered.