A trip to the Beskid Niski (Low Beskids) had been on my mind for a very long time. I had heard a lot about this range – about its nature untouched by human hands, its aura of wildness, displaced villages, difficult history, and wooden Orthodox churches. I also wanted to see for myself if the legendary “Wall of Tears” on Lackowa is truly as steep as they say. Fortunately, it turned out that my good friend Jaromir was also thinking about discovering the Low Beskids. So, on one beautiful Sunday, we joined forces and set out on an incredibly satisfying trek through the highest parts of the range. Join me for an account of a loop from Wysowa-Zdrój via Ropki, Lackowa, Busov, and Jawor!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Ascent to the Hutniańska Pass
- Ropki – Lemko Cemetery
- Lackowa (997 m a.s.l.) from Izby
- Ostry Wierch (938 m a.s.l.)
- Cegiełka Pass (645 m a.s.l.)
- Busov (1,002 m a.s.l.) from the village of Cigel’ka
- Jawor (723 m a.s.l.) – The Holy Mountain of the Lemkos
- Return to Wysowa-Zdrój
- Trip Map
Ascent to the Hutniańska Pass
We leave Krakow at about 6:00 AM. We have a little over 150 kilometers to Wysowa-Zdrój, which takes us about two hours. We park in the free parking lot located next to the “Bar u Tomasza” restaurant. We begin our trek at the charming wooden Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel, built in 1779. Next, we follow the blue trail leading through the main street of Wysowa-Zdrój. After about 200 meters of walking, we cross the bridge over the Ropa river, the source of which springs near the nearby Wysowska Pass. Wysowa-Zdrój makes a positive first impression: the town is well-kept, green, and surrounded by forested mountains. After about 800 meters, the blue trail turns left, right next to the wooden Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, dating from the first half of the 20th century. We are now walking along an asphalt road running in the valley of the Ropka stream. The road begins to rise slightly, leading us to the Hutniańska Pass (645 m a.s.l.) after about 3 kilometers of walking.
The Hutniańska Pass turns out to be an incredibly idyllic and scenic spot. Extensive panoramas stretch from there: on one side toward Bziany (740 m a.s.l.) and Zrub (733 m a.s.l.), and on the other toward Ostry Wierch (938 m a.s.l.), which we intend to conquer later today. On the pass, we find a wooden table that seems like the perfect place for a late breakfast. While eating, we occasionally express our delight at the ubiquitous, incredibly intense greenery. The Beskids in May are simply phenomenal, a true feast for the senses.
Ropki – Lemko Cemetery
From the Hutniańska Pass, we follow a dirt road toward the village of Ropki (or rather, what remains of that village). Before World War II, the town had over 400 inhabitants, and its center was graced by the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. Today, only 45 people live here, and the abandoned church was moved to the open-air museum in Sanok. What caused such a drastic population decline?
Before World War II, the Low Beskids were mostly inhabited by the Lemkos, an East Slavic ethnic group that practiced Orthodoxy, used the Cyrillic alphabet, and spoke the Rusyn (Lemko) language. Some Lemkos identified with the Ukrainian nation, while others considered themselves representatives of a separate Rusyn nation. And the rest? The rest probably didn’t mind. They had lived here forever and spoke their own way. And, who knows, maybe it would have stayed that way if high politics hadn’t intruded into the peaceful life of Lemko families…
In 1944, mass displacements began. Hundreds of thousands of Poles moved from the Eastern Borderlands to the Recovered Territories. Similarly, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians moved east from the Krakow, Lublin, and Rzeszów voivodeships to the Ukrainian SSR. Initially, the displacements were voluntary. However, it quickly turned out that people were not so eager to suddenly leave their homes in the name of national ideas, as the Soviet comrades had thought. The resettlements became forced and also included the Lemkos, who were classified as part of the Ukrainian nation. Thus, by 1946, about 97,000 Lemkos (about 70% of the pre-war population) had left the territory of present-day Poland. Unfortunately, it didn’t end there.
Between 1947 and 1950, the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic carried out “Operation Vistula,” as part of which they resettled the Ukrainian population from the east to the Recovered Territories to carry out their assimilation. The resettlements were forced, and selected individuals were given only two hours to pack their life’s belongings onto a maximum of two horse-drawn wagons. In this way, the vast majority of those Lemkos who had avoided deportation to the USSR left the Low Beskids. Most of them ended up in today’s Lower Silesian Voivodeship, where many of their descendants still live. In the Low Beskids, all that remains of the Lemkos are abandoned villages, churches, and cemeteries.
In Ropki, we diverge slightly from the blue tourist trail specifically to visit what is perhaps the most famous Lemko cemetery. Amidst many abandoned graves, our attention is drawn to one single new grave. It turns out to belong to Prof. Andrzej Lucjan Jaczewski (1929 – 2020), a doctor, a Varsovian, and, as the inscription on the grave states, a “citizen of Ropki by choice.” The cemetery has something magical about it, as if it were telling an old, forgotten story.
After leaving the cemetery, we pass the site where the church moved to Sanok once stood. We also pass a Buddhist retreat center. Well, it’s probably hard to find a better place for peaceful meditation than the Low Beskids. From the blue trail, we turn left onto the red trail, a fragment of the Main Beskid Trail. The route is wide and very picturesque. After a slight ascent, an expansive panorama opens up over the area where Ropki’s buildings once stood and over the surrounding peaks, including Mount Siwejka (785 m a.s.l.). After some time, we re-enter the forest, only to emerge from it a few kilometers later in the village of Izby. We diverge from the trail to the left, following the main road of the village.
Lackowa (997 m a.s.l.) from Izby
Izby was also a Lemko village before 1947. This is evidenced by the local Church of St. Luke, which currently serves as a Catholic church. Izby is the most popular base for trips to Lackowa, the highest peak of the Polish part of the Low Beskids. And indeed, in this village, we finally meet a fairly large group of tourists. We walk along the main road of Izby the whole time toward the Beskid Pass. The terrain begins to rise slightly, and soon we pass the last buildings of the village and the asphalt ends. The road now runs through an expansive, incredibly green clearing. To the left, a view opens up of the main protagonist of today’s trip, Lackowa. From a distance, it doesn’t look as formidable as it is described. What will it be like when we get closer?
After a section of about 1 kilometer through the scenic clearing, our path dives back into the forest. Shortly after, we reach the Beskid Pass (644 m a.s.l.), where we return to the marked tourist trail, more specifically to the red border trail. We walk through a dense forest, and conversations mainly revolve around how steep it is about to get. For we have ahead of us a section that is considered one of the steepest tourist trails in the Polish mountains outside the Tatras.
After the Beskid Pass, the terrain indeed slowly rises, and the famous “Wall of Tears” begins at an altitude of about 800 m a.s.l. (that is, at the point where less than a kilometer remains to the summit of Lackowa). The core of the ascent is a 300-meter section where a 150-meter difference in altitude must be overcome. So we are dealing with an intense but very short effort. Although we both got slightly out of breath, the legendary ascent took us about 10 minutes. Nonetheless, completing this section is an interesting experience – in some places the slope is so steep that I grab tree trunks, protruding branches, or occasionally peeking rocks for convenience. We both think that if one were to go here in winter, wearing crampons should be considered.
A few minutes after conquering the Wall of Tears, we check in at Lackowa (997 m a.s.l.). Don’t expect views here – like the trail leading to it, the summit is completely forested. Due to its altitude, Lackowa is sometimes called the “Police Mountain” (a play on its 997m height being the old police emergency number). The summit is the highest elevation on the Polish side of the Low Beskids, so it is included in the Crown of Polish Mountains (which definitely adds to its popularity). With KGP climbers in mind, a special stamp has been placed on Lackowa. For me, Lackowa is already the eighteenth summit from this list. We take a short break at the top, but after a while, we move on – the highest point of today is still ahead of us.
Ostry Wierch (938 m a.s.l.)
The red trail beyond Lackowa leads through a relatively flat ridge with incredibly steep slopes. Seriously! Observing the southern slope, I wonder intensely where I would stop if I accidentally started sliding down there. After about 500 meters, we begin a very steep descent to the Pułaski Pass (763 m a.s.l.). This variant is not quite as steeply inclined as the Wall of Tears, but you can be sure – there is simply no gentle way up Lackowa.
After the Pułaski Pass, however, we begin another ascent – also short but very intense. At an altitude of about 900 m a.s.l., we turn from the red trail onto the yellow one, and after a few minutes, we check in at the next summit of our hike – Ostry Wierch (938 m a.s.l.), which we had the opportunity to admire from the Hutniańska Pass. There, we take a short food break. As you probably guess, Ostry Wierch (what a surprise in this range!) is also completely forested.
Cegiełka Pass (645 m a.s.l.)
After descending from Ostry Wierch, we return to the red border trail and continue following it eastward. We walk the whole time through a dense, rather monotonous forest, but because Jaromir is as much of a chatterbox as I am, the kilometers pass really quickly. After about two kilometers, the trail begins to drop sharply again, leading us to an important point – the Cegiełka Pass (645 m a.s.l.). At the pass, we leave Poland for a moment, taking the green trail to the Slovak village of Cigel’ka. The route now leads through what is by far the most beautiful place during our trip today, namely through an expansive green clearing with an amazing view of Lackowa and the highest peak of the Low Beskids and our current goal – Busov. The place is simply phenomenal; we both admire it for a good quarter of an hour.
Busov (1,002 m a.s.l.) from the village of Cigel’ka
Slightly tired but in good spirits, we descend to the village of Cigel’ka, located at an altitude of about 500 m a.s.l. We walk along the main road through the village, passing the local municipal office and the volunteer fire department.
A surprise awaits us on the outskirts of the village, just before turning off the main road onto the green trail leading toward Busov. It turns out that there is a large Roma settlement there. For safety reasons, we don’t take photos, but it was clear at first glance that the living conditions in this place are dire. Older Roma observe us from a distance with a watchful eye, while children immediately run up in a swarm, asking us for money. I feel strange, and Jaromir feels the same way. And quite honestly, I don’t have any money – for such a short trip abroad, I didn’t even think to take euros.
Behind the Roma settlement, we turn left, taking the green trail. When we are already some distance from the village, we see another group of Roma from afar. While they are not interested in us, their dogs unfortunately are. They run up to us and, I won’t lie, give us a bit of a scare. This whole situation weakened our morale to the point that for some time we think about an alternative descent from Busov via a different route. After analyzing the map, however, it turns out there is no way out – we must return the same way. So we move briskly toward the summit; we’ll worry about the Roma and their dogs later.
The green trail to Busov (1,002 m a.s.l.) from the main road to the summit itself is about 3 kilometers long and requires overcoming a 500-meter difference in altitude. Passing this section takes us about 45 minutes and does not cause major problems. On the final ascent, it is quite steep, but incomparable to what the Wall of Tears on Lackowa offers tourists. The trail is rather well marked, although in one place we happen to get slightly lost. However, we quickly find our way and return to the correct path.
While the trail to Busov also leads through a dense forest, at the summit itself, you can finally count on an expansive panorama. Views stretch from there toward the south – toward the Čergov mountain massif (and its highest peak, Minčol, 1,157 m a.s.l.). Reaching the highest peak of the Low Beskids is a good excuse for a longer break. So I take a container with pasta and chicken, my favorite mountain lunch, out of my backpack.
Jawor (723 m a.s.l.) – The Holy Mountain of the Lemkos
Perhaps it is not particularly surprising, but we did not meet a living soul on the trail to Busov that day. We learn that someone does visit there occasionally from a notebook for signing in left in a box at the summit. I like such things, so I eagerly add my autograph as well.
The descent went very smoothly – about 30 minutes after starting the walk, we check back in the vicinity of the Roma village. The children try their luck again, and I have to refuse them again. Shortly after, we check back into the Cigel’ka Pass on the red border trail. We follow it east toward the last peak we intend to conquer today – Mount Jawor. We are now walking along a picturesque fragment of the trail, accompanied by beautiful and idyllic views of Lackowa and Busov, conquered earlier.
Soon the path dives back into the forest, only to lead us to Jawor (723 m a.s.l.) after a short ascent. Interestingly, we are informed that we are at the summit by about four different signs. You can’t go wrong!
From Mount Jawor, we descend the same way we came here, emerging back onto the scenic clearing. 38 kilometers in our legs is taking its toll, and we both fall blissfully onto the grass. As I bask in the afternoon sun, surrounded by ubiquitous greenery, I feel… I feel that it is good. But wait, it’s not over yet!
We leave the clearing and take the path leading to the sanctuary on Mount Jawor, called the Lemko Lourdes. In 1925, Mary reportedly appeared here to three women returning from a festival in Slovak Gaboltov. At the request of the Mother of God, a cross and a chapel were built in this place. After its consecration in 1929, a spring of refreshing water gushed from the ground, reportedly having healing properties. Mount Jawor quickly gained the rank of “holy” among the Lemkos and became a very popular pilgrimage destination. To this day, the chapel here is administered by the Orthodox parish in Wysowa-Zdrój, and festivals important to Lemko culture are celebrated here several times a year.
Return to Wysowa-Zdrój
From Mount Jawor, we descend to Wysowa-Zdrój along an asphalt road. At the end of the trip, we go to see the local spa park and enter the pump room for a moment. There, I try the local, highly mineralized medicinal water, which turns out to be very tasty.
The last surprise of today awaits me on the way back. The navigation leads us through the village of Mogilno, located in the Nowy Sącz district. As it happens, I also come from Mogilno, though the larger one in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. For some reason, stopping in this place brings me a lot of joy and sentiment. Jaromir is also pleased – it turns out that an excellent panorama of the Tatras stretches from the square in front of the Mogilno community center this evening.
The expedition into the Low Beskids was simply fantastic. It charged me with very positive energy and allowed me to visit a completely new, amazing piece of our country (and the country of our southern neighbors). By the way, it was also a really good fitness test – over 40 km of walking, almost 2000 meters of altitude difference. Thanks also to Jaromir for the good company and the beautiful photos you have the opportunity to admire here!
Trip Date: May 12, 2024
Trip Statistics: 41 km, 1,820 meters of altitude difference
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