Gorce National Park Nature Exhibition, Poręba Wielka

The Gorce National Park Nature Exhibition (Wystawa Przyrodnicza w Ośrodku Edukacyjnym GPN) is the main attraction of the park's Education Centre in Poręba Wielka, in the Niedźwiedź municipality near Mszana Dolna. The centre opened in 2019 in a former outbuilding (oficyna) of the manor of the Counts Wodzicki, and the exhibition was set up in its historic stone cellars. The building was adapted with European funds under the Infrastructure and Environment programme.

The place has a history of its own. The manor park, about 19 ha, lies on the southern slopes and at the foot of Chabówka hill; since 1983 it has been managed by the national park, even though it is some 5 km from the park's main area. It was entered in the heritage register as early as 1934, and its old trees were declared a natural monument in 1967. The original manor buildings, apart from a wooden carriage house, burned down in January 1945. During the German occupation the outbuilding was used by SS General Friedrich Krüger on his stays in Poręba, and a pointed-arch door and window from that time survive in one of the cellars. In the late 1940s a new building rose on the surviving cellars to house the forestry office; today it is home to the education centre.

What to see

The exhibition fills five rooms, and its route mirrors a hike along a tourist trail: it starts in the valley of a mountain stream and leads to the highest summit of the Gorce through different habitats, Carpathian beech forest, upper-montane spruce forest and a mountain glade. Dioramas, interactive stations and sound paths are arranged so that visitors choose their own way of exploring the topics, using different senses. Photographs of the display show, among other things, a diorama of predators, an owl in the hollow of an old beech and a flowering glade. There are also elements for visitors with impaired vision. By prior arrangement you can watch nature films about the park itself, the role of dead trees in the forest, large predators and the spruce bark beetle in the spruce forest.

After the exhibition it is worth walking around the manor park. Here you will find a garden of Gorce plants laid out in the shape of a fire salamander, the park's symbol (best seen from May to July, when most species are in flower), a restored apple orchard with old varieties, the wooden carriage house reconstructed in 2024, and the educational path "The Wodzicki manor park and Chabówka hill".

Practical information

A visit takes about an hour. From May to October the exhibition is open Tuesday to Sunday, from November to April only Tuesday to Friday, and it is closed on public holidays; a standard ticket costs 12 zł and a reduced one 6 zł (cash only on site, or online via eparki.pl). More details are in the "At a glance" box. By car from the Zakopianka road (E77), leave at the Lubień junction for road 968 to Mszana Dolna, then follow Orkana Street to the roundabout in Niedźwiedź; after it drive about 1.5 km further and turn right. By public transport the easiest hub is Mszana Dolna, from where local minibuses run to Poręba Wielka and Koninki. For groups the centre runs sessions in a 20-person workshop room and has a 50-seat conference hall.

Nearby: trails and peaks

Just 260 metres from the centre runs our trail Szczebel – Turbacz – Kowaniec, so the exhibition is good preparation for a real hike through the same forests and glades. Nearby runs the long Brzeźnica – Kacwin route, and the short Koninki – Orkanówka path leads to Orkanówka in the same village. In the mountain part of the park awaits Hala Długa below Turbacz, and 10 km from Poręba railway fans will enjoy the Chabówka Railway Open-Air Museum.

Official website: gpn.gov.pl

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.