Hala Łabowska

Hala Łabowska is a large glade in the Sącz Beskids (Beskid Sądecki), in the middle part of the Jaworzyna Krynicka range, at about 1,060 m. It is a "hala" in the true pastoral sense of the word: it is named after the village of Łabowa, whose inhabitants grazed their sheep here. Today the glade lies in the Poprad Landscape Park on the border of the villages of Składziste and Łabowa in Łabowa commune, and three nature reserves surround it.

After the Second World War, when the local Rusyns (mostly Lemkos) were resettled during Operation Vistula, the pasture passed to the State Forests; part of it belongs to PTTK. Without grazing the glade has shrunk considerably and partly grown over with forest. To preserve it, the pasture was given the status of an ecological site (użytek ekologiczny): open glades are the habitat of many plants that do not grow in forest and disappear with the meadows, and with them the animals tied to those plants, such as butterflies. Today the slopes are covered with bilberry.

The pasture also has a difficult history. A hunting lodge of Count Adam Stadnicki, the former owner of the land, once stood here; German soldiers used it during the war, so partisans burned it down. Above the hut stands a monument to the partisans of the 9th company, 3rd battalion, 1st Podhale Rifles Regiment of the Home Army who fought the Nazis here, and in the forest west of the glade a stone monument to Father Władysław Gurgacz was unveiled in 1999 — chaplain of the underground Polish Underground Army of Independence, executed by the communist security service in 1949.

What to see and do

• Views to the north and north-east — the hills of the Low Beskids (Beskid Niski) and the neighbouring peaks of the Sącz Beskids.
• The monuments to the Home Army partisans and to Father Gurgacz.
• The Count Adam Stadnicki nature trail, which runs across the pasture.
• The Władysław Stendera PTTK hut (1,061 m) — built in 1953 by the Nowy Sącz PTTK branch as a small tourist shelter and enlarged in 1973–1980. By the hut there is a spring, information boards and a GOPR point.

How to get there

The pasture is an important trail hub. The shortest climb is the blue trail Piwniczna Zdrój – Łabowa from the village of Łabowa: about 3 h up, 2 h 30 min down (the PTTK signpost on the pasture shows the same). From Łomnica-Zdrój the yellow trail Łomnica – Hala Łabowska takes 4 h up, 3 h down. From Piwniczna-Zdrój the blue trail takes 4 h 05 min up. The red Main Trail of Beskidy also crosses the pasture: 4 h 55 min from Rytro, about 3 h to Jaworzyna Krynicka, and 1 h 30 min to neighbouring Hala Pisana. These are long forest mountain routes without exposed sections, but they take a full day; many people therefore cross the pasture as part of a multi-day hike along the Main Beskid Trail.

Season and safety

The pasture lies in a landscape park, not a national park, so there is no entry fee (as of October 2026). The best seasons are summer (bilberries) and autumn, when the air is clear. In winter the days are short and the routes long, so plan your time before dusk. The GOPR mountain rescue number is 985 or 601 100 300.

Nearby

Heading west on the red trail, in 1 h 30 min you reach Hala Pisana (1,044 m) — a glade turning to bilberry with an avenue of Swiss stone pines planted on the orders of Count Adam Stadnicki — and then Rytro; to the east lie Jaworzyna Krynicka and Krynica-Zdrój.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Zbooycio, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.