Chochołowska Valley: The Longest Valley in the Polish Tatras

Po polsku: Dolina Chochołowska

Looking for a mountain valley that is beautiful but not hard to walk? Chochołowska Valley (Dolina Chochołowska) is the longest and largest valley in the Polish Tatras, in the western part of the range, south of Kraków. It is especially lovely in winter and in spring, when the crocuses bloom. The walk to the mountain hut takes up to 2 hours and is not demanding.

The valley takes its name from the village of Chochołów. I like it because it mixes wide meadows, rocky towers and a long history of shepherding, all in one place.

Geography

The valley is about 10 km long and covers about 35 km². In its lower part it forms a deep gorge with narrow spots called „gates” (bramy): the Lower Chochołowska Gate (Niżnia Brama Chochołowska) and the Upper Chochołowska Gate (Wyżnia Brama Chochołowska).

The upper part splits into 3 big arms, plus many small ones: Starorobociańska Valley (Dolina Starorobociańska), Upper Chochołowska Valley (Dolina Chochołowska Wyżnia) and Jarząbcza Valley (Dolina Jarząbcza).

Rocks and caves

Two main kinds of rock make up the valley. The upper part is built of crystalline rocks: gneiss and granite. The lower part is made of sedimentary rocks: shale, Cretaceous limestone and Triassic dolomite.

Above the Upper Chochołowska Gate, glacial landforms dominate. In the lower part you find karst features. They have created many caves, and the largest of them is Chochołowska Crevice (Szczelina Chochołowska).

History

Shepherds

The valley is named after Chochołów, a village a dozen or so kilometres away. By the 16th century the village already held the part of the Tatras between Wołowiec and Bobrowiec. Other parts of the valley had earlier been given to older villages.

Thanks to its many clearings (polany) and mountain pastures (hale), the valley became the biggest centre of sheep farming in the Tatras. In 1930, 70 shepherds (juhasi) grazed about 4000 sheep here, and another 280 herdsmen looked after cattle. There were also huge numbers of huts and sheds, including shepherds’ huts called bacówki.

Mining

The valley also has a mining past. From the 16th century, mining and ironworking went on here, and it lasted until the second half of the 19th century. People mostly dug iron ore. At first it was smelted on the spot. Later it was carried along the road called Droga pod Reglami to the ironworks in Kuźnice. Some local names come from this work, for example Hala Stara Robota and Polana Huciska.

Tourists and mountain huts

The first tourists arrived in the 19th century. Before the First World War the valley became much more popular, mainly thanks to skiers and climbers connected with the Zakopane ski group and the Tatra Society (Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie). The Society built a mountain hut on Starorobociańska Równia.

From 1930 to 1932 the Warsaw Ski Club built a large hut on Chochołowska Clearing (Polana Chochołowska).

The war years

During the Second World War the shepherds’ huts served as bases for Polish and Soviet partisans. In early January 1945, during fighting with the partisans, the Germans burned the nearby mountain huts and many shepherds’ huts and sheds.

The valley was also a place where the Nazis shot hostages and prisoners. The surrounding forests were cut down in a destructive way for a large Luftwaffe timber plant in Czarny Dunajec.

After the war

In 1951 to 1953 a new PTTK mountain hut was built on Chochołowska Clearing. PTTK is the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society, which runs many huts in the mountains. This hut became the main base for summer and winter trips in this part of the Tatras.

The clearing was a favourite tourist spot of Karol Wojtyła. In 1983 Pope John Paul II walked to Jarząbcza Valley and then met Lech Wałęsa and his family in the hut. A plaque on the hut wall, funded by Tatra guides, commemorates the meeting.

Who owns the valley?

The valley lies inside the Tatra National Park (TPN, Tatrzański Park Narodowy), but it is not owned by the park. It belongs to the Forest Commonwealth of the Entitled Eight Villages (Wspólnota Leśna Uprawnionych Ośmiu Wsi), based in Witów. The park only supervises what they do.

Forestry is carried out here and trees are cut. Sheep grazing continues too, though not on the scale of the past. Because the clearings are grazed, and some are also mown, the forest does not take them over. That is what happens on clearings owned by the park.

Nature

Two thirds of the valley are covered with spruce forest. The lower part has forests of the lower montane zone (dolnoreglowe), with some beech, fir and relict Scots pine. There are also many rocky towers, including the striking Chochołowskie Monks (Mnichy Chochołowskie) and the Siwiańskie Towers (Siwiańskie Turnie). The summits and ridges of the higher mountains are grassy.

The many clearings and mountain pastures with huts are another attraction, and most of them are still grazed. In spring crocuses bloom there in huge numbers. In autumn you can see autumn crocus (zimowit jesienny) and autumn gentians.

Botanists have found several plants here that are rare in the Polish Carpathians. The valley is also a refuge for wild animals. Red deer hold their autumn rut here, and there are bears and marmots.

Getting there and trails

From Zakopane you can take a minibus to Siwa Polana. From there the valley is closed to cars. There is a car park at Siwa Polana. To go further, you can choose:

• walking,
• the tourist train (kolejka turystyczna), which runs every half hour and goes to Huciska clearing,
• a bike, from the rental shop. You can ride further than the train goes, as far as the forester’s lodge (leśniczówka),
• a highlander carriage (bryczka góralska), which goes even further, right to Chochołowska Clearing.

Green trail, walking time to Chochołowska Clearing: 2:00 h (1:40 h downhill).

Many trails lead from the valley to the high parts of the Western Tatras. Others lead to Kościeliska Valley along the path called Droga nad Reglami, and to the Iwaniacka Pass.

Curiosities

• In 1938 people tried to break the world altitude record here with the balloon „Gwiazda Polski” (Star of Poland). The wind made it impossible, and the envelope, already partly filled with hydrogen, exploded.
• A sleigh-ride scene for the film Potop (The Deluge) was shot in the valley, as well as episode 7 of Janosik. Commando training and Tatra mountain rescue competitions have also taken place here.

More in the Tatras: Czerwone Wierchy, the Red Peaks and where to see Tatra chamois. All guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska