Jelenia Góra

Jelenia Góra («Deer Mountain») is a 684 m top in the north-western Low Beskids, in the so-called Grybów Mountains. It lies in the Maślana Góra massif, about 1.1 km south-east of its highest point (753 m). It is an inconspicuous rise on the massif's ridge, which branches here into several spurs separated by small stream valleys draining south to the Ropa and east and north to its left-bank tributary, the Bystrzanka. Bystra is about 2.5 km away, Szymbark 3 km and the town of Gorlice 6.5 km.

How to get there / trails

The green Wincenty Pol trail crosses the summit: Szymbark – Jelenia Góra (684 m) – Maślana Góra (753 m) – Stróże. From Szymbark the path climbs through the reserve of the same name on the south-eastern slope.

The view from the top

The whole summit is wooded, so there is no view.

Nature

On the south-eastern slope below the top lies the Jelenia Góra forest reserve, about 13 hectares, established in 1984. The initiative came from staff of the Polish Academy of Sciences' nature-protection institute, who in the 1970s described a rich site of the rare hart's-tongue fern here. The reserve protects a mountain sycamore forest with natural stands of the fern, as well as fragments of Carpathian beech forest with a large share of fir.

The area occupies an old slope landslide in the form of a dry ravine bounded on one side by a distinct ridge, covered with boulder fields and screes of Magura sandstone. About a third of it is sycamore forest with hart's-tongue fern in the undergrowth — one of the largest concentrations of this fern in Poland (about 1500 plants in 1984). Perennial honesty, dog's mercury and yellow archangel grow alongside. The rest is Carpathian beech forest. In total, 69 species of vascular plants have been recorded.

Beskidzkie Morskie Oko

Next to the reserve, on the slope of Maślana Góra within Szymbark, lies the Beskidzkie Morskie Oko, one of the largest landslide lakes in the Polish flysch Carpathians. It formed in the scarp of the largest landslide in the Polish Carpathians, the so-called Szklarki landslide. The slide occurred in 1784 and was reactivated in 1913, when the lake of about 50 × 20 m appeared. The last major movements took place in 1974. The huge landslide scarp and the long tongue, now wooded but still not fully stable, are clearly visible. In summer the lake partly or completely dries up; to make it easier to find, a walking path marked in blue leads from Szymbark-Łęgi to Maślana Góra.

The starting point of the green trail, Szymbark, is a former town that received town rights before 1388 and became a village again by the end of the 16th century.

Safety and rules

In the reserve, keep to the marked trail and do not pick plants. Mountain rescue is GOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; emergency number 112.

Nearby: Zielona Góra (690 m)

About 2.5 km to the west-north-west, in the Maślana Góra massif, rises the forested Zielona Góra (690 m). A saddle at about 647 m separates it from the massif's highest top. The green Wincenty Pol trail from Stróże over Maślana Góra to Szymbark runs along the northern slopes just below the summit. The top is fully wooded with no views, so it is not worth a separate climb — the views are from Maślana Góra.

Photos: Wawa65, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wawa65, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.