For children
underground waterfall and boat crossing in a former gold and arsenic mine, centuries old
Museums
an underground route in the Gold Mine complex, known for the unusual colours of the rock in the passage
Mountains
a summit above Złoty Stok with St Anne's Chapel and a former way of the cross on its slopes
Churches and monasteries
a chapel from 1731 on the summit of Góra Krzyżowa, a former hermit's dwelling
several hundred former warning and health-and-safety signs in a corridor of the Gold Mine, visited together with the underground route
Entertainment
paintball in Złoty Stok, with a gentler SplatMaster for children from age 9
the site of a stone gallows from 1558, today marked by a replica of the Galgenkreuz cross
one of the two main galleries of the Gold Mine, known as the Corridor of Death, with an underground waterfall
Things to do in Złoty Stok: a gold mine with an underground waterfall, adits, paintball and Góra Krzyżowa with a chapel. Plan your visit here.
The heart of the town is the Gold Mine, routes in the adits of a former gold and arsenic mine, opened on 28 May 1996. It features an underground waterfall, a boat crossing and a narrow-gauge train. Arsenic and gold mining traditions go back to the Middle Ages, and in 1907 an electric narrow-gauge railway with a 500-millimetre gauge was launched to carry the ore out of the adits to the station in Złoty Stok. After the Second World War the mine was taken over by the state, and today the tourist routes are run by Przedsiębiorstwo Usług Turystycznych Kopalnia Złota.
Two adits form the main route. The Black Adit, called the Corridor of Death, has its entrance in the upper part of the Golden Gorge and with the Gertruda Adit makes a guided route of over half a kilometre. This is where Poland's only underground waterfall is. The Ochre Adit stands out for the unusual colours of its rock and also requires a guide. You can buy it separately or in a package with other routes.
One of the corridors also holds the Museum of Warnings, Remarks and Appeals: several hundred old warning signs, many of them humorous. It is part of the underground route, not a separate venue.
Góra Krzyżowa (485 m above sea level) in the Golden Mountains rises just above the town. On the summit stands St Anne's Chapel from 1731, and the slopes are lined with stations of the cross set up in 1856. From 1920 to 1944 a hermit named Robert Domsch lived here and made decorations for the chapel, hence the hill's other names: Pustelnik (Hermit) and Kalwaria (Calvary). The peak is marked as free, with great views, and suits a solo trip. The chapel is not the same as St Anne's Chapel near Krzeszów.
The Gold Mine carries the "For families" and "Rainy day" tags on the portal, so it works with children in any weather. Older children and groups can choose Postrzeleni, a paintball arena that works independently of the mine, though its offer also appears in school trip and team-building programmes. It also takes stag and hen parties and company events. The SplatMaster variant is for children from age 9, classic paintball from 15, and minors need written parental consent.
The gallows site marks a stone structure from 1558 that was pulled down in 1831. The stone gallows were built with the permission of Duke Ernest of Bavaria. They consisted of a masonry shaft about 2.5 metres high and about four metres across and three joined posts, and were repaired in 1740. Today only archaeological traces and a replica of the Galgenkreuz cross remain, so it is a factual, historical stop, not a spectacular attraction.
Places for a solo trip are gathered on Złoty Stok solo. For longer trips see Ząbkowice Śląskie and Bardo.
