Pusta Wielka

Pusta Wielka is a 1061 m summit in the Sądecki Beskids, in the southern part of the Jaworzyna Krynicka range. It stands on the range's longest side ridge, which leaves Runek (1080 m) to the south-west and descends via Jaworzynka (1001 m), Pusta Wielka and Zubrzy Wierch (870 m) to the Poprad valley at Żegiestów-Zdrój. Four villages of Nowy Sącz County meet on the summit: Wierchomla Wielka, Wierchomla Mała, Żegiestów and Szczawnik. Wierchomla Mała is about 2.5 km away, Szczawnik and Żegiestów almost 4 km and the spa town of Muszyna about 7.5 km.

The Baraniecki Potok (a tributary of the Wierchomlanka) flows from the western slopes, and the Żegiestowski and Milicki streams from the southern slopes into the Poprad.

How to get there / trails

All three marked trails start in Żegiestów:

Żegiestów lies on the Poprad and has a railway station on line 96 (Tarnów – Muszyna), so the trailhead is easy to reach by train. A former Lemko village founded around 1574 under Wallachian law, it has been a spa since 1924, with springs of carbonated mineral water.

• yellow — over Pusta Wielka to the chapel below Jaworzynka: about 3 h 30 min (down 2 h 45 min);
• blue — via Trzy Kopce, Pusta Wielka, Jaworzynka and the Bacówka nad Wierchomlą hostel to Runek: 3 h 45 min (down 2 h 30 min);
• black — straight up to Pusta Wielka: about 3 h (down 2 h 30 min).

The view from the top

The summit itself is wooded, but below it on the southern side there is a large glade, slowly becoming overgrown, which offers views. There are glades on the western slopes too, though off the trails. On the eastern slopes running down to Szczawnik a large meadow carries ski lifts.

Nature and history

There used to be far more glades and open ground here. After the Lemkos who lived in the surrounding villages were expelled in 1947, their meadows were afforested or have been reclaimed by forest naturally. The summit lies in the Poprad Landscape Park. On the northern slopes the Wierchomla nature reserve protects old beech-fir forest and sandstone crags. About 50 m west of the summit there is a small 3-metre grotto in the rocks, the Grota pod Pustą Wielką.

Wierchomla nature reserve

The reserve was created in 1983 and covers 25.37 ha of state forest managed by the Piwniczna forest district. It protects natural beech–fir forest – Carpathian beech woodland in a richer and a poorer variant – with outcrops of thick-bedded sandstones and conglomerates. Beech dominates, with a small admixture of fir; the old firs are impressive, and some stand dead, providing nesting holes for cavity-nesting birds. About 40% of the area is young forest aged 15–40 years. Under the 2017 protection plan the whole reserve is under strict protection, so do not leave the paths here.

Safety, season and rules

The trails are easy but long — allow 3–4 hours for the climb from Żegiestów. In winter the eastern slopes are used as ski runs — do not walk on them. Mountain rescue is GOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; emergency number 112.

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