Bujačí vrch

Bujačí vrch (Polish Bujaczy Wierch, German Stirnberg) is a 1,947 m summit on the main ridge of the Belianske Tatras in Slovakia and the last high mountain at the eastern end of the whole Tatras. It lies within the town of Vysoké Tatry in the Poprad District of the Prešov Region, above the village of Ždiar, about 15 km north-west of Kežmarok. The nearest settlements are Tatranská Kotlina (about 3.8 km) to the east, Ždiar (about 4.6 km) to the north and Lendak to the east. The summit is closed to visitors: it lies in the Belianske Tatry national nature reserve within Tatra National Park (TANAP), and access has been prohibited since 1978.

Bujačí vrch is a broad massif about 1.3 km long in the eastern part of the main ridge. To the west the shallow Bujačie sedlo (1,912 m) separates it from Predné Jatky (2,012 m); to the east the ridge drops to Skalné vráta (1,620 m) and Faixova skala. Polish researchers point out a feature rare in the Tatras: as many as seven ridges radiate from the massif, so it rises above seven valleys, including Malý Košiar, the Jahňacia, Babia, Čierna and Suchá valleys, the Valley of Seven Springs and the main Kežmarská valley. Its height is quoted differently because of rock towers called the Apostles in the west ridge; the highest reaches 1,960 m, but the true summit is a long crest beyond a shallow notch, 1,947 m high.

Getting there / routes

There is no marked trail to the summit and climbing it is prohibited. The red Tatra Magistrala once ran along the ridge, but in 1978 its whole Belianske section was closed when the strict reserve was created. The nearest legal route is the green trail from Tatranská Kotlina to Chata Plesnivec (1,290 m) at the foot of the mountain in the Valley of Seven Springs, continuing along the southern slope to Veľké Biele pleso. The mountain is well seen from there, but you must not leave the marked path. Only a small part of the Belianske Tatras is open to hikers – the Monkova dolina from Ždiar to Kopské sedlo, open since 1993.

The view from the top

The summit is best seen from the Kežmarská valley, the Zelené pleso valley and the village of Ždiar. Polish authors call Bujačí vrch one of the best viewpoints over the Kežmarská valley; Slovak sources describe views of the main Belianske ridge and the High Tatras and, in good weather, of the Low Tatras, Spiš Magura, the Pieniny, the Orava Beskids and the mountains of southern Poland. For hikers these views remain out of reach – the mountain can only be admired from permitted paths.

Nature and history

The massif is built of sedimentary rocks – Triassic limestones and dolomites – and is partly rocky. It contains caves: ice stalagmites grow in the Ľadová pivnica (Ice Cellar), and the Alabaster Cave on the northern slopes has passages over 300 m long. Edelweiss grows on the summit; until the 1960s it was picked in large quantities for sale. For centuries the Wspólna Pastwa pasture on the southern slopes was the subject of bitter, often bloody disputes between Spišská Belá, Niedzica Castle and Kežmarok.

The name comes from the dialect word “bujak”, meaning a bull, and recalls the cattle grazing that went on here for centuries; it was first used in print by the geographer Antoni Rehman. The German name Stirnberg (“brow mountain”) referred to the start of the ridge as seen from Spišská Belá; later, topographers’ errors produced the variants Stierberg and Stiernberg. Around 1650 the treasure hunter August Kaltstein died on the mountain – the first victim of the Tatras known by name. In 1813 the botanist and geologist Göran Wahlenberg visited the summit.

Safety, season and rules

Bujačí vrch is closed in every season: it is a strictly protected zone and violations in TANAP are fined. The park’s high-mountain trails close every year from 1 November to 31 May; the current status of individual sections is published by the TANAP administration. Mountain Rescue Service HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300) or 112.

Interesting facts

• Seven ridges radiate from the Bujačí vrch massif – an exception in the whole Tatras.
• The Apostles in the west ridge are higher than the summit itself, which is why 1,960 m appears in some guides.
• Chata Plesnivec below the mountain is the only hut of its kind in the Belianske Tatras.

Photos: Rafik k, CC BY 2.5; Kristo, CC BY-SA 3.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY-SA 3.0; Rafik k, CC BY-SA 4.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.