Czerteż (Bieszczady)

Czerteż (Slovak Čierťaž) is a 1,071 m summit on the watershed border ridge of the Western Bieszczady (in Slovak the Bukovské vrchy), on the Polish–Slovak border. The southern, Slovak part of the mountain belongs to the village of Nová Sedlica in the Snina district of the Prešov Region, the northern, Polish part to Cisna municipality in Lesko County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. The nearest settlement is Nová Sedlica (about 5.4 km south); Wetlina lies 7.7 km to the north and Zboj 7.4 km to the south-west.

Czerteż lies on the border ridge between Borsuk (991 m) to the west and Hrúbky (1,186 m) to the east. A spur runs south from the summit and splits into two branches: a south-western one ending in Kýčera (857 m) and a south-eastern one via Príkry (952 m), Temný vršok (838 m) and Packova Kýčera (872 m), which reaches as far as Ukrainian territory.

Getting there / trails

• red — the Slovak East Carpathian Trail (KST 0918): from the west from the saddle below Ďurkovec via Jarabá skala, or from the south-east from the Kremenec tripoint via Hrúbky;
• blue — the Polish trail from Wielka Rawka to Riaba Skała (Jarabá skala), per OpenStreetMap part of the PTTK long-distance route Rzeszów – Grybów;
• green — from the village of Nová Sedlica to Čierťaž (Slovak trail KST 5790).

All these trails pass within a few metres of the summit; the Slovak long-distance path Via Slovakia follows the same ridge. The sources give no walking times, so plan them with a current hiking map.

What you can see from the top

The summit is covered by continuous forest with no view. According to Slovak Wikipedia, from occasional spots nearby you can see the surrounding Bukovské vrchy, nearby summits of the Polish Bieszczady and the Ukrainian Carpathians, and the Vihorlat. Neighbours on the Polish side include Wielka and Mała Rawka, Smerek and Hnatowe Berdo.

Nature and protection

The boundary between two national parks runs over the summit: the Polish Bieszczady National Park and the Slovak Poloniny National Park. On the Slovak side lies the Stužica national nature reserve, which merges at the summit with the Borsukov vrch nature reserve. Water from the south-western slopes flows via the Zbojský potok to the Ulička in the Uzh basin, from the south-eastern ones via the Stužická rieka also to the Uzh, and from the northern ones via the Beskidnik stream to the Wetlina in the Vistula basin. The mountain thus lies on the watershed between the Black Sea and Baltic basins.

Safety, season and rules

This is a remote forested border ridge far from settlements: carry enough water and food and start early. In winter snow lies here for a long time. In the Bieszczady National Park entry is charged and you may only walk on marked trails; in the Slovak reserves, too, stay on the paths. When walking the ridge, remember you are on the state border. Rescue: on the Polish side the Bieszczady group of GOPR (985 or +48 601 100 300), on the Slovak side HZS (18 300, +421 18 300); the general emergency number is 112.

Photos: Hanc Tomasz, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.