Magurka

Magurka is a 1121 m summit in the Mędralowa Group, a small mountain knot between the Klekociny pass (894 m) and Kolisty Groń, the lower top of Mędralowa (about 1150 m). The boundary between Zawoja commune in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and Przyborów village in the Silesian Voivodeship runs over the summit and along its ridge. The nearest settlement is Czatoża, a hamlet of Zawoja (about 2 km); the centre of Przyborów is over 6 km away, Zawoja about 7 km and Korbielów about 10 km.

In Jerzy Kondracki's physical-geographic regionalisation the Mędralowa Group belongs to the Maków Beskids, although tourist maps and guidebooks have long counted it as part of the Żywiec Beskids; in the newest 2018 scheme it falls within the Żywiec-Orawa Beskids. Streams from the north-western slopes feed the Bystra, those from the south-eastern slopes the Czatożanka.

How to get there / trails

Two marked PTTK trails cross the summit:

• the black trail Zawoja-Czatoża – Magurka – Korbielów, linking Zawoja with Korbielów over the ridge;
• the green trail Koszarawa Cicha – Czerniawa Sucha – Klekociny pass – Kolisty Groń – Mędralowa – Jałowiec Pass – Mała Babia Góra – Babia Góra.

The two trails cross at the lower end of the Hala Kamińskiego meadow. Following the green trail from Magurka you can continue to Mędralowa and over the Jałowiec Pass into the Babia Góra massif. The shortest approach is from Czatoża in Zawoja.

The view from the top

Hala Kamińskiego, a mountain meadow on the north-western slopes, reaches right up to the summit. The view is similar to the panorama from Hala Mędralowa, but to see all of it you have to walk a few dozen metres from one side of the top to the other. Nearby Babia Góra, the highest peak of the Beskids, dominates the scene.

Nature and the name

Magurka is an old name of Vlach origin, used by the state Geoportal maps based on the official register of geographical names. Andrzej Komoniecki (1658–1728) already called the mountain this way. Compass maps label the summit Kolisty Groń, but according to the Geoportal that is a mistake: the real Kolisty Groń lies about a kilometre to the south-west. The regional writer Aleksy Siemionow suggested calling it Magurka Wełczowska, after the hamlet of Wełcza, to tell it apart from the many other Magurkas in the Carpathians.

The Hala Kamińskiego and Hala Mędralowa meadows are traces of the old shepherding economy that once shaped these slopes.

Safety, season and rules

Magurka is a wooded mountain of medium height with no difficult sections, but the weather near Babia Góra changes quickly and winters bring deep snow. Beyond the Jałowiec Pass the green trail enters Babia Góra National Park, which has its own rules and an entry fee. Mountain rescue here is GOPR: call 985 or +48 601 100 300, or the European emergency number 112. It is worth installing the «Ratunek» app, which sends your position to the rescuers.

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