Oravska Polhora Slaná Voda (approx. 750 m amsl) – Mała Babia Góra (1517 m amsl) – przełęcz Brona (1408 m amsl) – polana Markowe Szczawiny (approx. 1180 m amsl) – Zawoja Markowa (approx. 700 m amsl)
Walking time: 5 hrs
An interesting passage from the Slovakian to the Polish side of the massif of the ‘Queen of Beskids’, leading along a trail rarely chosen by tourists through Mała Babia Góra, an excellent viewpoint. In combination with route X it enables a two-day trip with an overnight stay in the PTTK mountain hostel in Markowe Szczawiny or on the Slovakian side in Slaná Voda.
We start the trip in Slaná Voda, a small hamlet of the Slovak village of Oravská Polhora, whose name derives from the salt springs located here. The existing spa here at the turn of the 19th and 20th century attracted patients from all over Europe, but as a result of a series of events during and just after World War I, it declined. Recently, there have been plans to use the springs again. There is only one villa preserved from the original spa buildings, which now houses a tourist hostel.
From the hostel we follow the red markings along the asphalt road to the north, going up the valley of the Vonžovec stream. Soon we pass the entrance to a small marshland made accessible by wooden platforms, and a little further on we pass the building of an educational centre and a show farm where wild boars are bred. We come across two trail junctions
At the first one, our red trail is joined by the blue one, which leaves at the second, and we continue following the red signs, reaching the end of the asphalt road. Soon, we enter a narrow path and ascend through the forest to another crossroads near the hill named Borsučie. From here the route ascends steeply up the slopes of Mała Babia Góra, passing a wooden hunting lodge after approx. 30 minutes. We continue slowly upwards, entering the territory of the nature reserve (Chranená krajinná oblasť Horná Orava).
In the end the spruces give way to dwarf mountain pine and we ascend a beautiful mountain pasture, soon reaching the top of Mała Babia Góra, called Cyl, the third highest peak of the West Beskid Mountains behind only the main peak of Babia Góra – Diablak and Pilsko. It is a beautiful place, and the panorama spreading from here is breath-taking.
In the end the spruces give way to dwarf mountain pine and we ascend a beautiful mountain pasture, soon reaching the top of Mała Babia Góra, called Cyl, the third highest peak of the West Beskid Mountains behind only the main peak of Babia Góra – Diablak and Pilsko. It is a beautiful place, and the panorama spreading from here is breath-taking.
The route leaves the green trail and the state border here and follows the red trail signs very steeply down the stone steps. Lower down, the trail leads through a dense spruce forest, and after less than 15 minutes it leads to the Markowe Szczawiny clearing with the PTTK mountain hostel and the junction of tourist trails.
The PTTK Mountain Hostel in Markowe Szczawiny is one of the most popular facilities of its kind in Poland, and also a place of great significance for the development of mountain tourism in our country. The first, small wooden building stood in this place already in 1906 as the oldest Polish hostel in the West Beskid Mountains. The current, new building was put into use in 2009. Next to the hostel stands a smaller building, the so-called Goprówka (in its back part there is a permanent post of the Beskid GOPR Group). Inside there is a very interesting exposition of the Mountain Tourism Culture Centre PTTK.
From the hostel, the route shortly follows the black and green trail signs to the nearby Kolista Polana, where the trails diverge. From then on the route follows only the green trail signs, first descending steeply along the ridge of Suchy Groń, later much more gently and in the final section almost flat along the Marków brook valley through Pośredni Bór. The route reaches the borderline of the Babia Góra National Park and the Zawoja Markowa bus stop, where it ends its trip.
