Poľana (Low Tatras)

Poľana is a 1,890 m summit on the main ridge of the Low Tatras in Slovakia. It should not be confused with the extinct Poľana volcano (1,458 m) in central Slovakia. The mountain rises in the Ďumbier Tatras above the village of Demänovská Dolina, about 15 km south-west of Liptovský Mikuláš. The boundary between the Žilina and Banská Bystrica regions runs across the massif: the northern slopes belong to Lazisko and Demänovská Dolina, the southern ones to Dolná Lehota. The nearest settlements are the resort of Jasná (about 3.9 km) and Demänovská Dolina (about 4.2 km) to the north-east. The whole mountain lies in Low Tatras National Park.

Poľana is the northernmost point of the Low Tatras main ridge. Here the ridge running from Chabenec to Chopok turns sharply, at almost a right angle. The summit sits between Krížske sedlo (1,775 m) to the south-west and Sedlo Poľany (1,837 m) to the south-east, roughly halfway between Chabenec and Chopok; its ridge neighbours are Kotliská (1,937 m) to the west and Dereše (2,004 m) to the east. A massive spur runs north from the summit with Bôr (1,888 m) and Siná (1,560 m), separating the Demänová and Krížska valleys. Three valleys begin in glacial cirques below the mountain: the Krížska dolina to the north-west, the Demänovská dolina to the north-east and the Vajskovská dolina to the south. The northern slopes drain to the Váh (via the Palúdžanka and Demänovka streams), the southern ones feed the Vajskovský potok, a tributary of the Hron.

Getting there / routes

The summit is crossed by the red-marked main ridge trail of the Low Tatras, the SNP Heroes’ Trail (Cesta hrdinov SNP), which here coincides with the European long-distance path E8. You can come from the east from Chopok via Dereše and Sedlo Poľany, or from the west from Veľká Chochuľa via Chabenec and Kotliská. Chopok is easily reached by cable car from Jasná, from where you walk west along the ridge.

Yellow routes lead up from Demänovská Dolina via Sedlo Poľany and from the Demänovská Cave of Liberty via Siná, Bôr and Zákľuky; according to Polish guidebooks the latter takes about 3 h 40 min up and 2 h 45 min down from the car park by the cave. Another yellow trail comes from the south, from Dolná Lehota via Strmý vŕštek, Skalka and Kotliská.

The view from the top

The bare rocky-grassy summit offers an all-round view. According to Slovak sources, in good visibility you can see many Low Tatras peaks, the Tatras, the Choč Mountains, the Orava Magura and the Beskids, the Lesser Fatra and part of the Greater Fatra, and to the south the Poľana massif and the Veporské vrchy. The closest prominent neighbours are Chopok, Dereše, Kotliská, Chabenec and Bôr.

Nature and history

Like the whole main ridge of the Ďumbier Tatras, Poľana is built of the so-called Ďumbier-type granite. Because this rock is so resistant, the mountain has the shape of a rounded dome with fairly smooth, little-dissected slopes – without the sharp crags of the High Tatras. Its southern slopes are part of the Skalka national nature reserve, where the strictest level of protection applies.

Safety, season and rules

The Low Tatras ridge is open to every wind, with no forest and almost no shelter, so it is dangerous in thunderstorms or fog – follow the marker poles, watch the forecast and descend when a storm approaches. The best season runs from late spring to autumn; in winter the ridge is snow-covered and avalanches release in the cirques and on steep slopes, so a winter ascent needs experience, avalanche gear and a check of the avalanche bulletin.

In Low Tatras National Park stay on marked trails, especially in the Skalka reserve on the southern slopes; do not pick plants or leave litter. Mountain Rescue Service HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300), general emergency number 112. Park information is published by the NAPANT administration.

Interesting facts

• Poľana is the northernmost summit of the Low Tatras main ridge, where the ridge turns by almost 90 degrees.
• Its northern neighbour Bôr (1,888 m) is only 2 m lower than Poľana itself.
• The longest Slovak long-distance footpath, the SNP Heroes’ Trail, runs along the ridge over the summit.

Photos: Daniel Baránek, CC BY-SA 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; maczopikczu, CC BY 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.