Parks and nature
a raised bog in the Bystrzyckie Mountains with dwarf birch, an Ice Age relic dating back 7,600 years
a broad peak in the Bystrzyckie Mountains with stone screes and a dense network of forest roads
Parks and nature
a peat bog at 720 metres with bog pine and sundew, opened up by a 400-metre educational trail
a spruce-covered peak of the Bystrzyckie Mountains on the watershed between the Baltic and the North Sea, with no marked trail
Mountains
the highest summit of the north-western Bystrzyckie Mountains, covered with spruce forest
an 816-metre summit of the Bystrzyckie Mountains covered in spruce forest, skirted by the Justyna Trail
Mountains
a dome-shaped hill in the Bystrzyckie Mountains, 745 m above sea level, with mouflons brought from Italy in the 18th century
Mountains
a peak in the Bystrzyckie Mountains in the Central Sudetes, covered with spruce forest
Free things to do in Szczytna: six Bystrzyckie Mountains peaks and two peat bogs. A plan for a day in the hills without tickets.
Begin with the highest mountain in the area, Smolna, 869.7 metres above sea level. It used to be called Vogelberg. The whole mountain is covered with planted spruce forest with a little beech and sycamore. A green hiking trail passes its foot, linking Pokrzywno with Zieleniec along the so-called Green Road. It is the simplest way to reach the summit area on foot. Not much lower is Wolarz, 854.93 metres, on the northern edge of the Bystrzyckie Mountains, above the Piekielna Valley. Its slopes hold stone block fields and small rock outcrops.
Keep Biesiec (833 metres), the highest in the north-western part of the range, with its blue trail, for another day. Before the war it was called Todte Mann. North of it rises Zbójnicka Góra (828 metres). A wide forest road with an asphalt surface runs over its summit, linking the Justyna Road with the Biesiec crossroads. The mountain lies on a watershed, and part of the source streams of the Bystrzyca Łomnicka and the Dzika Orlica flow from its slopes. The third, Kuźnicka Góra (816 metres), stands between the valleys of the Bystrzyca Dusznicka and the Leszczyniec stream, and a walking trail called the Justyna Road skirts it from the south and east. All these mountains carry the "Free" tag.
The Torfowisko pod Zieleńcem nature reserve was established in 1954. It lies on the western slope of Biesiec at about 760 metres, on the watershed between the Baltic and the North Sea. The peat here is in places over 8 metres thick. The reserve protects one of the few fragments of raised bog in Poland, with the dwarf birch, a relic of the Ice Age. Niknąca Łąka lies at 720 metres in the Red Waters Valley east of Karłów, in the Table Mountains National Park. Bog pine, sundew, cloudberry and peat mosses grow here. In the 19th and 20th centuries drainage and spruce planting degraded this habitat, and today a 400-metre educational trail with information boards tells the story.
No ticket does not mean no rules. Restrictions apply in the reserves and the national park, so check them on the spot. The mouflon on Ptasia Góra, a dome-shaped hill 745 metres high, about 2 kilometres south-east of the centre of Duszniki-Zdrój, are best watched from afar. They were brought to the area from Italy in the 18th century. The slope towards Duszniki falls steeply, and the Mouflon Shelter stands on the northern slope.
To change direction, see mountains in Szczytna, nature or great views. A wider overview is on the list of the commune's attractions and on the page of free places across the region.
