Sopotnia Wielka Falls

Sopotnia Wielka Falls (Wodospad w Sopotni Wielkiej) is the largest waterfall in the Polish Beskids. It drops on the Sopotnia stream right in the centre of the village of Sopotnia Wielka in Jeleśnia commune, Żywiec County, in the Żywiec Beskids, at about 620 m above sea level. The water spills over a ten-metre rock step just below a bridge and over the centuries has carved a deep pool beneath it. The waterfall is a protected natural monument.

Geologists regard Sopotnia as a rare example of a so-called cataclinal waterfall: the sandstone beds here dip steeply in the same direction as the water flows, so the stream does not fall from an overhang but slides down a tilted rock slab. The step is 15 m long, the plunge pool below it about 5 m deep, and its bottom is lined with sharp, slanting slabs. Below the fall the stream has cut a bed 12–15 m deep into the sandstone, and its steep banks are covered with natural oak-hornbeam forest. There are other rock steps with small cascades on the Sopotnia, but this one is the highest.

The waterfall has impressed travellers for centuries. In the early 18th century Andrzej Komoniecki, the reeve of Żywiec, wrote in his chronicle Dziejopis Żywiecki about a place above the village called Sopot, where the water falls from the rock "as if from a high roof" into a pool so deep that a long pole cannot reach the bottom, and where fish gather. In his interwar guide to the Western Beskids, Kazimierz Sosnowski described a "silver cascade" 10–12 m high falling into a broad emerald basin and noted that the water once turned the wheel, 20 m in circumference, of a large sawmill that later burned down.

What to see

• The waterfall and the pool below it — most impressive after rain and in spring, when the stream is full; in dry spells the jet is much narrower.
• A viewing spot and information boards by the stream: the waterfall is part of the Korbielów Kamienna – Pilsko – Sopotnia Wielka nature trail, and a board explains how it was formed.
• The rocky stream bed below the fall with smaller steps.

Getting there

This is not a mountain hike: the waterfall lies in the village itself, by the bridge in the centre of Sopotnia Wielka, so it is easy to visit with children. According to OpenStreetMap there is free parking nearby, as well as benches and a viewpoint. By public transport, as with the other villages of Jeleśnia commune, you rely on private minibuses from Żywiec; the timetable is published by the Żywiec County office.

The yellow trail Wodospad Sopotnia – Above Przełęcz Przysłop starts at the waterfall, and the black trail Sopotnia Wielka – Kotarnica runs through the village. So the waterfall combines well with a walk into the mountains — for example towards Pilsko or the mountain pastures above Sopotnia.

Season and safety

The waterfall can be visited all year round, free of charge. Swimming in the pool is life-threatening: according to Polish Wikipedia, strong eddies and sharp rock slabs on the bottom pose a deadly danger, so admire it from the bank. The stones by the water are slippery — keep children close. In winter the fall partly freezes, and during floods it becomes especially wild. The GOPR mountain rescue number is 985 or 601 100 300.

Nearby

Above the village rises the Pilsko massif with the mountain pasture Hala Miziowa; east of Sopotnia lie the meadows of the Żywiec Beskids — Hala Rysianka and Hala Lipowska.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; M.Gola, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Ska73, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons.