Hiking and Camping Trails in Poland

Can anyone help me out here with some information on hiking trails with camping along the way.
Doug once talked about his adventure of camping in Poland but that's about it.
I also heard that Krakow has some nice trails in that area but nothing specific.
Anyone want to share their adventures ?
What are some of the best trails to conquer ?
Are they safe ?
What a better way to explore the beauty of Poland's countryside.
Thanks in advance. J.R.

The best trail I have always dreamt of conquering was the mountain trail along the southern border, with stopovers in shelters, about 500 km long. I have never had time to venture on it: work, family, farm - we only covered some parts of it during each individual trip. But I will wait until all my kids grow up and then some might be interested to go with me. I am old but still very fit.

It starts in Beskid Śląski Mountains and finishes in Bieszczady.

Main Beskid Trail
1001miejsc.pl/glowny-szlak-beskidzki-przebieg-trasy/

• 
  
  

Talk of trail,with gyms shut down,I everyday get up at 5 and walk/jog on this bike trail (capitaltocoasttrail.org/) by me and try to take that 7 lbs of weight I put on in Poland lockdown.

Yo,JR coloossal red king crab legs price is upto 66 a lb now,way more then last year.Seafood is good for health especially when combined with Belvedere Vodka.

Like now for me.

Let`s cover the trail with a few photos.

Beskid Śląski Mountains go first

• 
  
  
• 
  
  

Next step: Beskid Żywiecki i Makowski Mountains

• 
  
  
• 
  
  

Next step: Gorce Mountains

• 
  
  
• 
  
  

Thanks pawian as this is the kind of vacation highlight that I would be most interested in on my visit to Poland.
Most Beautiful !
As far as the blaring music night club scene and fancy restaurants......been there, done that.
Hiking in the back country you will meet the humble Polish people who are not out to impress anyone.
My cup of tea.

Yes, but we are talking about mountain hiking which can be quite strenuous (though Beskid Mountains aren`t as demanding as Tatras). Are you fit enough to face the challenge?


Hmm, they will still try to impress you, e.g., with the number of sheep they keep or amount of vodka they are able to gulp.

Look, Beskid Mountains impression competition - my hat is bigger than yours. Ha!

• 
  
  

Och my, nice memories. I did a lot of growing up there during trecking camp


With such simplistic view of human nature you will be disappointed no matter where you go.

Actually just the opposite Captain Happy.
Simplicity of human nature can never be disappointing to a humble person such as myself.
Maybe you should tell us about your adventurous travels then instead of your constant belittling of others.

No adventurous travels here. All calm and more or less according to plan.


Belittling? Because I told you that your romanticized, simplistic image of the potential people living there is stupid? Well, it is.
I worked in a factories and I know the countryside and that cr*p about salt of the earth is hilarious to me. They are all the same just the decorations change. Instead of 'what my followers on insta will say' it's 'what my neighbour will say'. Instead of 'that dress will look amazing in the club' it's 'this dress will look amazing in church'.

You have good people and bad people, the rest doesn't mean a sh*t.

Everyone is someone Lenka, even the rest.
Even as condescending and snotty as the females are on this forum, except for Atch, I sit back and wonder what is really going on in your lives that make you so bitter.

Obviously you all have been hurt by someone in your lives very badly and still have open wounds.
My simplistic view of the people that live in the country is only stupid to you.
I have travelled many places and have always found that country folks are way less hardened then the city folks.
They are not as worldly as city folk.
That's why when I come to Poland I want to get off the beaten path and meet people that are down to earth and count their blessings.

And if you see that as stupid then shame on you.

I would love to do something like that. My hiking boots have been out a lot over the last few months, but i would need to do some serious trails to prepare for that. Please keep posting pics of the stops. Are there shelters in all of the places the trail passes through? I have friends living in two of the places on the trail, Rabka and Bieszczady, so i know I would always have somewhere to stay there, but would like to know about shelters in the other places. I stayed in the Beskids about 10 years ago now with some friends. The mountains were covered with snow. Amazing views.


Lenka is Polish and knows the people. You don't. Your statement is ridiculous to me too, and I've stayed in rural Poland many times. Many of my friends come from rural areas and humble is not a word I would use to describe any of them.

Besides which, do you seriously think that all hikers on the Appalachian Trail for example, are humble Americans from the country? Clearly not, so why would you imagine that you are only going to meet Poles from the country on this trail? Not that you will be hiking it as I've lost count of how many times you've said you are coming to Poland.

Clearly your knowledge of Polish people is about as good as your knowledge of maths.

I started this thread to learn about rural Poland so it is understandable how my statements may seem ridiculous to a Brit as yourself, Pam, who has visited Poland.

Your effort to shame me because I want to learn about rural Poland certainly shows your inferiority complex towards Americans that want to learn as much as they can about their family ancestry in Poland.

Do you have any family ancestry in Poland ?


How creative of you in your efforts to belittle me as never did I mention 'hikers', I was referring to the small farms and village people.

And YES, here in America the people who live away from the cities and in rural areas are much more humble down to earth people in general.

See, you just learned something and I found no need to shame your ignorance in the process.


I am impressed to think you you have kept count of my private life that needs no explaining to YOU.
You seem infatuated with me as I must remind you of one of your brothers that use to knock you around when you needed it.


My math is excellent for a guy my age, probably much better then yours.
Yes Pam, your knowledge of Poland is better then mine since you have visited Poland and I haven't.
I could belittle you just as bad if we were discussing a country that I have visited that you have not, say like Jamaica.
Wanna give it a try ?
Thank you for your condescending input in your failed efforts of my monthly brow beating by you.
No wonder you never meant any humble people while hiking in Poland with that deep frown line in your forehead as attitude is everything.
Try smiling next time while losing your British superiority complex and just watch what a difference it makes in meeting humble people......such as myself.

Attitude is everything Pam, ATTIDUDE ! ;-)

It must really bother you that she actually learn about Poland instead of just talking about it. Well, there is easy cure...

It must bother you even worse to have to post Off-Topic with your Baiting Bad Breath to provoke.


My thoughts exactly as Costa Rica has open arms for tourism right now to hike and explore their National Forests and jungles.
Poland will have to be put off until a later date when Europe opens back up.
Now please you two, quit trashing my thread.

Johhny meant humble as "straighforward and unassuming", not submissive or servile. That was my impression.
Yes, one can still meet such people in the mountains. However, they are not the guys who long for meetings with people from outside, especially foreigners - they prefer to live a hermit-like life in the wilderness, far from the civilisation which they rejected long ago.

In Bieszczady mountains, they are called Forest Folk.

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

No need for me to be creative, just throwing your own words back at you as usual.

Yes, bears do, but they only maul you a little and let go. They are more interested in the content of your backpack than eating you.

Same here in the U.S. but at least here we are allowed to pack some heat with us for self defense.
In Alaska you would be a self sacrifice in the back country without a gun.
You have to have some common sense and not store your food in your tent rather hoist your back pack up on a rope twenty feet into a tree a safe distance from your camp site.

I have already picked out a trail in Poland that I want to hike.


Monthly as usual. nlol
Tell us why you feel such a immature personal need to do this especially when it does not concern you in the least bit being you are British ?

Hopefully pawian untwisted your creativity for you to understand and you won't toxify my thread again.

Funny, never heard of it in relation to bears, only to rats (All Quiet on the Western Front).


Actually, I post pics of steps, not stops. :):) By steps I mean seperate mountain groups in that long Carpathian range.


Of course, without them it would be impossible to cover that 500 km trail. E.g., there are 3 shelters in Gorce and 5 in Bieszczady. Check them here:

razemnaszlaku.pl/baza-noclegowa/schroniska-gorskie.html
razemnaszlaku.pl/schroniska-gorce.html

More about the trail:
In Polish: pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C5%82%C3%B3wny_Szlak_Beskidzki

Eng: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Beskid_Trail

Next step is Beskid Sądecki mountains.

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

WoW those are great picture!
Did you take them ?
The higher altitude trails on the Tatra's may be a bit much for an old guy like me however.


You said that the main interest of a bear is food and not humans.
A bears main instinct is their sense of smell as they are basically blind but can smell food many kilometers away.
Keeping it separate from you when you sleep in a bears backyard is only common sense.


To be young again.............

No, I took better pics but I usually sell them on various sites so they are classified. and cannot be displayed here.


Yes, but also more dangerous - a few dozen people die or get hurt there each year.


Aaah, now I know why they advise to lie down on the ground and smell like a corpse during a close encounter of the third kind. E..g, Mickiewicz recommended it as a survival technique.


We remain young as long as we feel like that. hahaha

Thanks for those links, appreciated. I'll look at those later on. I've already read up on the trail :) Maybe one day I will get to hike some of it.

Where I stayed before was in a small village in the Beskid Wyspowy mountains.


I'll post on whatever thread I like.

Johhny, you`d better not mess up with our girls. They can be tough when dealt with too roughly. hahaha


So, it wasn`t a shelter but a private house, I suppose.

Yes, I was staying with friends that time. I've never hiked in Poland, but I've done lots of hiking here over the years. I would need to be fitter to have a go at that trail though!

The last but one step is Beskid Niski Mountains - Low Beskid - known for its Lemko minority culture. As Orthodox believers, t hey build wonderful churches for their denomination. Don`t forget about several dozens WW1 cemeteries - a major battle between Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies took place in the area.

See more Orthodox churches here. Some were turned into Catholic churches after WW2.
polskazachwyca.pl/top-10/cerkwie-beskidu-niskiego-piekno-architektury-drewnianej/3/

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  WW1 cemetery
  

Thanks for posting all the pics Pawian, some beautiful views there. I doubt I will ever be able to hike the whole thing, but to do a couple of sections of it would be amazing :)

We still haven`t reached the last step on the trail - Bieszczady Mountains, for decades considered the wildest part of Poland.

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

This is the part of the trail I would really like to see. Is that first picture on Tarnica?