Mount Velykyi Pustoshak

Velykyi Pustoshak is a 1,423 m summit (1,427 m according to other sources) in the northern Gorgany, in the Kalush district of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. It is the first summit of the Arshytsia ridge from the west; the ridge’s highest point, Horhan-Ilemskyi (1,587 m), lies about 4.2 km to the south-east. The nearest village is Myslivka, about 5.7 km as the crow flies, where almost all hikes onto the ridge begin.

Nearby rise Malyi Pustoshak (1,313 m) about 1.5 km to the north-west, Ilmovyi Verkh (1,036 m) 1.7 km to the north-east, Nimetska (1,185 m) 1.8 km to the east and Zhuravel (1,104 m) 2.2 km to the north. The Ilma river rises north-west of Horhan-Ilemskyi, and the Svicha valley bounds the ridge to the west.

How to get there

Eight of our routes cross Velykyi Pustoshak or pass within 150 m of it. The shortest is To Horhan-Ilemskyi (11.6 km). A loop option is Myslivka – Mount Horhan-Ilemskyi – Myslivka (24.0 km). Over the summit itself and the Nimetska pasture to Osmoloda runs Myslivka – Mount Velykyi Pustoshak – Nimetska pasture – Mount Horhan-Ilemskyi – Osmoloda (35.0 km, about 1,500 m of ascent). A longer loop is Myslivka – Mount Yaiko-Ilemske – Mount Horhan-Ilemskyi – Myslivka (36.3 km).

Water, shelter and safety

There is no water right at the summit: on our map the nearest spring is about 2 km to the east (around 1,145 m), and the springs below Horhan-Ilemskyi are 2.3–2.9 km to the south-east (one of them weak). A shelter in the valley near Myslivka is about 2.6 km to the north-east, and a weather shelter below Horhan-Ilemskyi about 3.4 km to the south-east. Their condition is unknown, so carry water from the village. In fog it is easy to lose the path on the rocky sections of the ridge. The nearest summit with our forecast is weather on Hrofa (about 18 km away). In an emergency call 112 or 101 — contacts of the nearest units are on our mountain rescue page.

Interesting facts

• On a slope below the Nimetska pasture, at about 960 m, a patch of forest with English yew has been protected since 2018 — here the yew grows near the upper limit of its range.
• In 1983 a MiG-23 military jet crashed into the Arshytsia ridge near Horhan-Ilemskyi; a restored memorial stands at the crash site.