Hala Krupowa

Hala Krupowa is a former pasture in the Polica Range (Pasmo Policy) of the Żywiec Beskids (in the newer regionalisation, the Żywiec-Orawa Beskids), above the village of Sidzina in Lesser Poland. In fact, hikers know two different places by this name. The real Hala Krupowa, also called Hala Sidzińska, lies on the south-eastern slopes of Okrąglica. Signposts and many guidebooks, however, mistakenly give the name "Hala Krupowa" to the neighbouring pastures at the Kucałowa Pass — Kucałowa Hala and Sidzińskie Pasionki, where the PTTK hut that also bears this name stands. Both parts merge on the ridge, so for a hiker it is one large open glade with views in every direction.

Kucałowa Hala is named after an owner called Kucała. The pastures were grazed right up to the 1980s: shepherds' huts stood here, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s highlanders even built, without permission and against the authorities of the time, a wooden shepherd's lodge-chapel, which later burned down. A shepherd's hut still stands at the lower edge of the real Hala Krupowa. Since grazing stopped, nature has been returning: the first stage of this succession is dense bilberry, which colours the slopes red and russet in autumn.

The hut at the pass has its own history. It opened on 16 December 1935 as the "Pod Policą" hut on the initiative of Sidzina commune and branches of the Polish Tatra Society; construction was led by Professor Kazimierz Sosnowski. On 14 October 1944 the Nazis burned it, and the rebuilt house was formally opened on 9 October 1955 and named after Sosnowski. On its wall are two plaques: one to the Home Army partisan unit "Huta-Podgórze", active around Polica and Babia Góra in 1943–1945, and one to John Paul II — on 9 September 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyła came here on his last mountain walk before the conclave.

What to see and do

• The Tatra panorama — from Hala Krupowa you can see the Tatras, the Gorce, the Chočské vrchy and the Orava Basin with the Orava reservoir; from Kucałowa Hala the Jałowiec Range, the Skawica valley and the Maków Beskids.
• Autumn bilberry — in September and October the glades glow red.
• The shepherd's hut at the lower edge of the real Hala Krupowa.
• The plaques on the hut — about the partisans and Karol Wojtyła's last hike.

How to get there

The red Main Trail of Beskidy crosses the Kucałowa Pass: from the Krowiarki pass below Babia Góra (via the Polica summit) it takes 2 h 50 min (2 h 40 min back), from Bystra 4 h 05 min (3 h 30 min back). The shortest approach from the north is the trail Skawica – Kucałowa Pass via Sucha Góra: 2 h 30 min up, 2 h down. From the south, from the "Sidzina Dom Dziecka" bus stop, the trail over the real Hala Krupowa (Hala Krupowa – Sidzina-Wielka Polana) takes 3 h 30 min up and 2 h 45 min down. All approaches are moderate mountain forest paths without exposed sections; the climb from Skawica suits families who already hike.

Season and safety

The pastures lie outside any national park and there is no entry fee (as of October 2026). The hut is open all year and has a GOPR station. The best time for views is clear autumn and winter days, when the Tatras are sharpest. The Polica ridge is exposed to wind, and in fog it is easy to lose the marked trail on the broad glades; the GOPR mountain rescue number is 985 or 601 100 300.

Nearby

Below, in Orava, a few kilometres from the pasture lies the Orava Ethnographic Park in Zubrzyca Górna — an open-air museum of the region's wooden architecture. The trail Sidzina – Jabłonka continues across the pastures towards Babia Góra and the Orava Basin.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Rafał Kozubek, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Rafał M. Socha (Azymut), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.