Wysokie Skałki Nature Reserve

The Wysokie Skałki nature reserve covers the summit of Wysoka (1,050 m above sea level), the highest elevation of the Pieniny Mountains, in the Little Pieniny on the border with Slovakia. It is a landscape reserve in the Szczawnica municipality, at an altitude of 900-1,050 m above sea level. It was established in 1961 on 10.91 ha and later enlarged to 13.87 ha.

Spruce forest and rare plants

Protection covers the only surviving fragment of natural upper montane spruce forest in the Pieniny Mountains. In 1947-1957, during the development of lands left by the Lemkos, the forest was heavily thinned, but after several decades it regenerated. In the undergrowth and on small clearings grow, among others, the martagon lily, the alpine clematis, the beaked monkshood, the mezereon, the plane-leaved buttercup and the alpine blue-sowthistle.

Eagle owls, common buzzards and lesser spotted eagles nest here. According to the protection plan of 2016, the area of the reserve is under active protection, and it lies within the Southern Lesser Poland Protected Landscape Area, in the buffer zone of the Poprad Landscape Park, and in the Natura 2000 site "Małe Pieniny".

Views from the summit

From the treeless summit you can see the Radziejowa Range, Babia Góra, the Tatra Mountains and the Pieniny Mountains. On the eastern side of the summit rise steep limestone rocks 5-20 metres high. The reserve lies on State Treasury land managed by the Krościenko Forest District.

Trails

According to Wikipedia, the reserve is reached by the green trail from Jaworki through the Homole Gorge and Polana pod Wysoką, and by the blue trail, which runs along the ridge of the Little Pieniny from Szczawnica through Szafranówka, Durbaszka and Wysoka to Jaworki. The blue trail also passes Wierchliczka, the Rozdziela pass and the Biała Woda reserve.

Practical information

• Base village: Jaworki, Szczawnica municipality; the reserve is free to enter.
• Protection regulations apply within the reserve. Check the rules of movement and the current condition of the trails with the manager or the Krościenko Forest District.
• On the approach from the Jaworki side there is the Pod Durbaszką Mountain Hut.