Makyta

Makyta (German Makita) is the highest and most massive summit of the western Javorníky, 923 m high (923.3 m according to Slovak and Czech data). It stands on the border of Slovakia and Czechia, between the Trenčín and Zlín Regions, on the land of the municipalities of Lazy pod Makytou and Lysá pod Makytou (Púchov District) and Valašská Senice and Huslenky (Vsetín District). The main ridge of the Javorníky carries both the state border and the watershed between the Váh and the Morava here. On the Slovak side, the hamlets of Lazy pod Makytou – Dlhé, Krivé, Makytka, Fujerovci – lie below the mountain.

The Makyta massif in the broad sense covers about 60 km², roughly half in Czechia and half in Slovakia. It is the last element of the Javorníky chain when heading south-west: the Papajské sedlo saddle (691 m), 2.6 km to the north-east, separates it from the central part of the ridge, while to the south-west a ridge just over 10 km long gradually descends to the Lyský Pass (510 m), which separates the Javorníky from the White Carpathians. Long ridges of 4–10 km, 600–800 m high, run from the summit in all directions, separated by deep, winding valleys. The upper parts of the mountain form a broad, fairly flat plateau at 820–860 m, above which a slightly flattened summit dome rises in the east.

The south-eastern slopes drain via the Beňadín and Tisovský streams to the Biela voda and on to the Váh. On the Moravian side, at about 840 m, almost directly below the summit, rises the Senice river, which flows into the Bečva and on into the Morava. On the northern slope of the summit dome, at about 780 m, there is a sulphurous mineral spring.

How to get there / routes

Several marked trails lead to the summit from the Slovak and Czech sides. All are fairly long because they start in villages at the foot of the massif, and the elevation gain exceeds 400 m, so the ascent is considered fairly demanding.

• Red trail – along the border ridge from Papajské sedlo and from the saddle below Radošov (the Pulčín – Papajské sedlo route).
• Green trail – from the hamlet of Krivé in Lazy pod Makytou (Slovak side) or from Huslenky (Czech side).
• Blue trail – from Francova Lhota (Czech side).
• Yellow trail – from Lysá pod Makytou.

Sources give no official walking times. By the red trail from Papajské sedlo there is a well with a plentiful spring. On the summit you will find a trail junction, the 4th stop of the Javorníky – West educational trail, a wooden hikers' shelter with a table and benches, and a summit book.

What you can see from the summit

To be honest: almost nothing. A wooden lookout tower once stood on the summit, but it was destroyed long ago and the forest now blocks the views. Because of the long approaches the mountain is not visited very often – people come for the quiet and the old forest rather than for a panorama.

Nature and history

The massif is largely forested. Continuous woodland covers mainly the northern part, while in the south it is broken up by old scattered settlement – family homesteads and isolated farms among former pastures and hay meadows, reaching up to 650–700 m. The forests on Makyta's slopes have kept a near-natural character: old fir-beech stands with natural regeneration dominate, mixed with spruce, sycamore maple, rowan and locally birch; higher up they turn into ravine forest. The spring flora is typical of Carpathian beech woods and very rich.

White-backed and three-toed woodpeckers and stock doves breed here. The three largest predators of this part of Europe have also been observed – the brown bear (1–2 animals every summer), the wolf and the lynx, which migrate from Slovakia to Moravia. The summit belongs to the first, most strictly protected zone of two protected landscape areas at once – the Czech Beskydy PLA and the Slovak Kysuce PLA. In 2008 the Makyta nature reserve was declared on 187 ha of the northern slopes.

Geologically the massif is built of Carpathian flysch – sandstones, conglomerates, claystones and marls from the Palaeocene and Eocene; the summit dome is formed mainly of sandstones and fine-grained conglomerates of the Middle Eocene Luhačovice beds.

Safety, season and rules

The approaches are long and wooded and there are no services on the summit, so plan your time and carry water and food. This is large-predator country: do not leave food around, walk in daylight and on marked trails. In the first protection zone and in the reserve, stay on the paths and do not pick plants. On the Slovak side help in the mountains comes from the Mountain Rescue Service HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300); the single emergency number 112 works in both countries.

Interesting facts

• The well-known Slovak clothing factory Makyta Púchov is named after the mountain.
• Makyta is the last large massif of the Javorníky in the south-west, before the Lyský Pass and the White Carpathians.

Photos: Jiří Kadlec, Public domain; Ben Skála, CC BY-SA 3.0; Ben Skála, CC BY-SA 3.0; Ben Skála, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.