Leskowiec

Leskowiec is a 922 m summit in the eastern part of the Little Beskids, in the Łamana Skała range of southern Poland. It stands on the main ridge between Groń Jana Pawła II (890 m), separated by the shallow Midowicz Pass, and Potrójna (847 m), separated by the Beskidek Pass (805 m). The Garncarz ridge runs south to the village of Targoszów, while the northern slopes fall to the village of Rzyki, where the headwaters of the Rzyczanka stream rise. The summit carries the boundary between Targoszów (Sucha County) and Rzyki (Wadowice County) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

Today Leskowiec is an important trail junction and one of the best viewpoints in the Little Beskids.

How to get there / trails

• The red Little Beskid Trail on the section Kocierska Pass – Roczenka – Kiczora – Skaliste Pass – Potrójna – Łamana Skała – Smrekowica – Góra Potrójna – Beskidek Pass – Leskowiec – Midowicz Pass – PTTK Leskowiec hut.
• The yellow trail Gorzeń Górny – Groń Jana Pawła II – Targoszów – Krzeszów.

Local themed paths, the «Beech Trail» and the «Shrine Trail», also pass near the summit, and the Beskydy Way of St James follows the ridge. The PTTK Leskowiec hut on neighbouring Groń Jana Pawła II (formerly Jaworzyna), about a kilometre from the summit, is reached by trails from Rzyki, Andrychów, Wadowice, Ponikiew, Koziniec, Świnna Poręba, Krzeszów, Targoszów and from the Kocierska Pass.

The view from the top

The mountain is almost entirely forested, but on the summit itself there is a large meadow, a remnant of former grazing. From there wide views open over the Żywiec and Maków Beskids: Babia Góra and Pilsko, the Polica range, the Jałowiec range and others. A hikers' shelter and a cross stand on the summit.

Nature and history

The upper part of Leskowiec is known for its dwarf, twisted beeches; many of them can be seen along the trail from the PTTK hut. As late as the second half of the 1980s a large flock of sheep grazed on the meadow below the summit, but the pastoral traditions brought by the Vlachs have now disappeared completely.

The name looks Polish but is of Slovak-Czech origin: it is unique in the Polish mountains, while Slovakia and Moravia have many names such as Leskovec, Lieskovec and Leskovina. Curiously, Mount Leskovec in the Moravian Jeseníky lies 9 km from Jindřichov, the same distance as Polish Leskowiec from Andrychów, and both have «Golden Mountains» nearby. According to tradition, Andrychów was founded by settlers from Bohemia or Moravia who may have brought the names of their home mountains with them.

The first hiking trail in the Leskowiec area was marked by Władysław Midowicz in 1927; the neighbouring pass is named after him. Leskowiec was one of the favourite mountains of Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, who came here many times as a schoolboy.

Safety, season and rules

Leskowiec can be visited all year round; in winter two ski runs are laid out near the summit. The open summit meadow is exposed to wind, and in fog it is easy to take the wrong direction at the many trail junctions. In the Beskids help comes from GOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300, or the general emergency number 112.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Pudelek (Marcin Szala), CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Vlah, CC0; Ciacho5, CC BY-SA 4.0; Pudelek (Marcin Szala), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.