Kysuca River

The Kysuca, in Polish Kisuca, is a right-bank tributary of the Váh in north-western Slovakia and the main river of the Kysuce region, which is named after it. It is 66.6 km long (66.3 km according to Polish sources) and its basin covers about 1,050 km². Most of the basin lies in Slovakia, with small parts in Czechia and Poland: the Polish tributaries Czadeczka and Krężelka collect water near Koniaków and Istebna. The Kysuca flows in a huge arc around the Javorníky range and joins the Váh at Žilina at about 330 m.

The course: from source to mouth

The Kysuca rises at about 940 m on the northern slopes of Hričovec in the Javorníky, near the Slovak–Czech border, in the village of Makov. For the first half of its course it flows north-east, through Vysoká nad Kysucou, Turzovka, Podvysoká, Staškov and Raková, and in Čadca turns south. Inside this arc lie the Javorníky, outside it the Turzovka Uplands, the Moravian-Silesian and Kysuce Beskids and the Kysuce Uplands. The river then flows through Krásno nad Kysucou, where it receives its largest tributary, the Bystrica, Dunajov, Ochodnica, Kysucký Lieskovec and Kysucké Nové Mesto to Žilina. Altogether the Kysuca collects 13 larger tributaries, among them the Čierňanka, Čadečka, Oščadnica and Neslušanka. The bed is gravelly, with boulders in places, unregulated outside the towns, with many riffles and bars; the valley is fairly wide and scenic.

On the Czech side the basin boundary follows the ridges of the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and the Jablunkov Furrow — from Velký Polom (1,067 m) to Girová (840 m) and the Czech–Polish border; the left-bank tributaries of the Milošovský potok rise there. In Poland the divide runs from the border south of Istebna to Koniaków and up to Kikula (845 m) on the Slovak border. The river network density is 1.2–1.7 km per km², the bed gradient at Čadca 2.3‰, and each square kilometre of the basin yields on average 17.2 litres of water per second.

What to see along the river

• Budatín Castle — Považie Museum and Tinkers' Exhibition — in Žilina, where the Kysuca joins the Váh.
• Kysuce Village Museum and Forest Railway, Vychylovka — in the valley of the Bystrica tributary above Krásno.
• Čadca — the town on the river's great bend, once the centre of timber rafting.

The river and people

Timber used to be floated down the Kysuca: the traditional place where logs were bound into rafts and the trip began was Čadca, and rafts went down in spring and summer when the water was high enough. Today the Čadca – Makov and Žilina – Mosty u Jablunkova railways and roads II/487 and I/11 run along the valley, and the D3 motorway is under construction. Between river km 30.8 and 65.6 the Kysuca is designated a water-supply stream.

The mean flow grows from 8.34 m³/s at Čadca to 16 m³/s at Kysucké Nové Mesto and about 17.5 m³/s at the mouth; the lowest recorded is 0.9 m³/s, the highest 880 m³/s.

Nature and safety

The Kysuca has a rain-and-snow regime and very variable levels and flows: after downpours and thaws it floods, and in summer it can run very low. The water is relatively clean, especially in the upper course; the mean annual water temperature is 8.5 °C. During high water do not enter the bed or approach undercut banks. Emergency numbers: 112, in the mountains HZS 18 300.

Nearby: peaks, trails, huts

Above the valley of the Oščadnica, a left-bank tributary of the Kysuca, rises The summit hala of Veľká Rača, the highest peak of the Kysucké Beskydy. From Čadca the trail Čadca, station – Makov, hut follows the river to its upper course, from Turzovka Turzovka – Osada Hlinené, and the valley is crossed by the Kysucká magistrála.

Photos: I would appreciate being notified if you use my work outside Wikimedia. More..., CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Vegetator, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Taz666, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.