The Island Beskids have few rocky summits, but many peaks covered in forest right up to the top. From a path in a thicket of spruce and beech nothing can be seen, which is why municipalities build viewing towers here: wooden, steel, sometimes with a roof over the stairs. This text covers towers from Mogielica to Mosorny Groń, and also a few from neighbouring ranges. Towers of the foothills and the Low Beskids are described separately.

Mogielica: the highest peak of the Island Beskids

Mogielica is 1,170.2 m above sea level and is the highest peak of the Island Beskids. The viewing tower on Mogielica is 22 m high, and its platform is at a height of 20 m. It is climbed by stairs inside the structure, over four storeys. From the top one can see the Island Beskids, the Sącz Beskids, Gorce and the Tatra Mountains, and in good weather also the Żywiec Beskids, the Silesian Beskids, the Lesser Fatra and the Chočské vrchy.

According to Wikipedia, the first wooden tower was opened on 24 August 2008 on the site of a former triangulation tower, dismantled in the 1980s. In 2020 it was declared unsafe, and a new tower was put into use in October 2022. The construction was made possible by cooperation between the municipalities of Dobra, Kamienica and Słopnice and the Marshal's Office of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

The tower stands near the Mogielica nature reserve, established on 12 March 2011 to protect the capercaillie and its habitats. Ecologists, as the reserve's entry states, consider however that the area is too small, and that tourist traffic has been increased precisely by the tower. On the way to the summit it is therefore worth keeping to the trails and to the rules that apply in protected areas.

Kamionna, Modyń and Skiełek: forests that finally show something

These three towers share a similar story: the summit was wooded, there were no views, so the municipality built a tower. They differ in height and material.

Lower hills: Polczakówka and Hajdówka

Not every tower stands on a thousand-metre peak. The viewing tower on Polczakówka rises on the hill Góra Królewska in Rabka-Zdrój. The hill is 588 m above sea level and rises about 120 m above the Raba valley. The eastern slopes are occupied by a meadow, and to the south and south-east the hill is treeless. The Main Trail of the Island Beskids runs along the ridge. The height of the tower itself could not be established.

The viewing tower on Hajdówka in Jordanów stands on a summit 534 m high. According to the VisitMalopolska website it is a wooden tower 18 m high, fully enclosed and lit at night, with a camera system, a telescope and maps describing the surrounding peaks. From it one can see the Makowski and Island Beskids, the Polica Range, the Babia Góra massif and Gorce, and in favourable conditions also the Tatras. The tower can be reached by car from the market square in Jordanów, or on foot, which takes about an hour. The municipality obtained the funds for the construction from the shield for mountain municipalities.

Beyond the Island Beskids: Radziejowa, Stryszawa, Mosorny Groń

The viewing tower on Radziejowa stands on the summit of the highest mountain of the Sącz Beskids (1,266.5 m), on the border between Jaworki and Roztoka Ryterska. Wikipedia describes its history: lightning destroyed the first tower, of 2006, in June 2010, and the second, built in the same year, was closed in 2017 because the wood had rotted. The present wooden tower, opened according to the same source in 2022, is 22 m high, with the platform at 17.1 m. From it one can see the Sącz Basin, the Pieniny, the Tatras, the Island Beskids and the Żywiec Beskids. According to Wikipedia the easiest ascent is 5.4 km and leads through Obidza.

The viewing tower in Stryszawa is a steel structure 25 m high, from 2010, built just below the summit of Surzynówka (816 m). It has six platforms, and on the highest one boards describe the visible ranges: the Żywiec Beskids, Gorce, the Makowski Beskids, the Silesian Beskids and the Little Beskids, and in good visibility even the Olkusz Upland. The tower stands on the grounds of a private hotel complex, so the rules of entry are set by its manager.

The viewing tower on Mosorny Groń in Zawoja was opened in 2022 next to the upper station of the cable car. The steel structure with timber cladding is 24.5 m high and has six floors, with the platform at a height of 18 m. From it one can see the ridge of Babia Góra, the Western Tatras, Pilsko, Rysianka, Romanka, Skrzyczne and the Little Beskids. The summit is reached by a cable car 1,312 m long or by the yellow trail from Zawoja-Podryzowane, and a harder route leads along the blue trail past the Mosorczyk waterfall.

How to read these descriptions before setting out

Towers change faster than mountains: they are sometimes closed for renovation, as Mogielica was in 2020, and the rules of entry are set by municipalities or private managers. We do not give hours and rules, because sources can diverge. Before setting out, check them with the tower's manager, and choose your route on a current tourist map. Views depend on the clarity of the air: the Tatras, which are mentioned in the descriptions of almost every tower, are visible mainly in good weather.