Diablak

Diablak is a basalt hill 391 m above sea level in the Kaczawskie Foothills, about 1.5 km south of Wilków, in the buffer zone of the Chełmy Landscape Park. This is a different hill from the well-known Diablak peak in the Tatras on Babia Góra.

Geology

The summit and slopes, both northern and southern, have small outcrops of Miocene basalt, which forms characteristic polygonal columns. The ridge is built of coarse-grained sandstones and marls of the Upper Cretaceous, on the lower southern slopes lie red sandstones of the Lower Triassic, and beneath them limestones, dolomites and anhydrites of the Permian. The hill forms a cuesta running from north-west to south-east, with a steep south-western slope descending towards the Wilcza valley, and a gentler northern slope towards the Drążnica valley.

Vegetation

The southern slopes are covered by spruce and deciduous forest, while on the northern slopes there are fields and meadows. Plants growing on the basalt include mezereon (Daphne mezereum), periwinkle and corydalis.

Practical information

• Location: Kaczawskie Foothills, about 1.5 km south of Wilków, municipality of Świerzawa, Złotoryja County, in the buffer zone of the Chełmy Landscape Park
• Height: 391 m above sea level
• Getting there: near Świerzawa and Wilków, closer to the Gold Museum in Złotoryja and the Aurelia Gold Mine in Złotoryja