Karkonosze National Park

Why visit?

The Karkonosze National Park protects the highest range of the Sudetes — from Śnieżka (1,603 m), through glacial granite cirques to subalpine peat bogs overgrown with dwarf mountain pine. Established in 1959 on just under 60 km², since 1992 it has formed with the Czech Krkonoše National Park a cross-border UNESCO biosphere reserve of more than 60,000 ha — one of Europe's most visited mountain regions, drawing about 2 million people a year; access to the trails is paid. Śnieżka, with the characteristic „discs” of the summit observatory, is the most popular goal; the ascent from Karpacz can be shortened by the chairlift to Kopa. On the way you pass the Śnieżne Kotły — cirques scoured by glaciers with block fields — and peat bogs where endemics bloom: the Karkonosze bellflower and the Sudeten lousewort. On the northern slopes, reached from Szklarska Poręba, await the Kamieńczyk and Szklarka waterfalls, and the lift to Szrenica opens one of the region's ski centres in winter. All this is linked by 112 km of hiking trails and 17 km of ski routes. Karkonosze weather is a chapter of its own: wind, fog and Alpine-style temperatures can arrive in the middle of a summer day, so a jacket and a hat are mandatory all year round. In the winter season some trails are closed. The best time to visit is June–September for the panorama from the Śnieżne Kotły to the Jelenia Góra valley; outside the holiday peaks the crowds thin out considerably. Allow one to two days to explore the park at ease, basing yourself in Karpacz or Szklarska Poręba.

What you’ll see

• Śnieżka (1603 m) — najwyższy szczyt Sudetów
• Transgraniczny rezerwat biosfery UNESCO (z Czechi)
• Śnieżne Kotły — kotły polodowcowe z gołoborzami
• Wodospady Kamieńczyka i Szklarki
• Kolejki krzesełkowe na Kopę i Szrenicę
• Endemity: dzwonek karkonoski i gnidosz sudecki

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