Jamnícke plesá

Jamnícke plesá are two glacial lakes in the upper part of Jamnícka dolina in the Western Tatras, in the Liptov region, within Tatra National Park (TANAP). The valley is named after the Liptov village of Jamník. The tarns lie in a hanging valley — the Kotol Jamníckych plies — below the slopes of Ostrý Roháč, Volovec and Lopata; the basin is separated from the rest of the valley by the rampart-like Stavianský vrch. The lakes lie on two levels and are the source of the Jamnícky potok.

Nižné Jamnícke pleso is the largest in the valley: 1,732 m, 1.13 ha, 178 by 95 m, up to 8.2 m deep; its bottom has two hollows. It lies in a depression of a glacial cirque below Deravé sedlo. Vyšné pleso lies 100 m higher, at about 1,835–1,839 m, on the flat valley floor: 0.41 ha, 110 by 58 m, up to 3.6 m deep. The stream from Vyšné pleso feeds Nižné pleso.

Villagers from Kokava once grazed their herds around the tarns; the Kokava Gardens, a lushly overgrown widening of the valley floor below the lake, are named after the village. Since grazing stopped, the shores have gradually been overgrown by dwarf pine. The slopes around Vyšné pleso are covered with three-flowered rush, which turns rusty by mid-summer and colours the mountainside reddish. As early as 1862 the Polish traveller Kazimierz Łapczyński wrote of a little valley strewn with granite blocks where two emerald lakes forever gaze at Roháč.

What to see and do

• Two emerald tarns below the pyramid of Ostrý Roháč — best seen from the climb to Jamnícke sedlo.
• Autumn colours — from late summer the rust-coloured grasses and dwarf pine create especially warm colours.
• The quiet of the Western Tatras — Jamnícka dolina is far from the big resorts, with far fewer people than at the popular High Tatra tarns.

How to get there

The tarns lie on the blue Oravice – Račková dolina, campsite route. The starting point is the campsite at the mouth of Úzka dolina near Pribylina. From there the blue trail leads via the Nižná lúka junction up Jamnícka dolina: to the junction in Jamnícka dolina 2 h 30 min (2 h down), then to Jamnícke sedlo 1 h 45 min (1 h 20 min down); the tarns lie on this section, and the path runs right past Nižné pleso. From the saddle to the summit of Volovec (2,063 m) it is another 20 min. This is a long mountain day: one way takes several hours, so start early. There are no technical sections on the way to the tarns, but the route is too long for small children.

Season and safety

The blue trail in the upper part of the valley — from the Pod Smrekom junction to Jamnícke sedlo — is closed from 1 November to 31 May (§ 4 of the TANAP Visitor Regulations, decree 26/2023), so you can visit the tarns from 1 June to 31 October. Entry to TANAP is free. You may walk only on marked trails and only in daylight; dogs are not allowed on the blue trail through Jamnícka dolina, and drones are banned without a permit. On the ridges of the Western Tatras the weather turns quickly, and summer thunderstorms are frequent. Mountain Rescue Service HZS: 18 300, general emergency number 112.

Nearby

• Roháčske plesá — on the other side of the main ridge, in Roháčska dolina.
• Volovec — the summit above Jamnícke sedlo.
• Ostrý Roháč — the summit above the tarns.
• Roháčsky Waterfall — in the Orava part of the Roháče.

Official website: tanap.sk

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.