Priehrštie

Priehrštie (also Javorinka or Penčákova hora; Polish Prehrštie) is a 1209 m summit in the Spišská Magura in northern Slovakia. It lies in the western part of the main ridge, between Príslop (1214 m) and Magurka (1193 m), above the village of Ždiar, about 18 km north-west of the town of Spišská Belá. The summit sits on the boundary of the Kežmarok and Poprad Districts of the Prešov Region and extends into the cadastres of Osturňa and Ždiar. The nearest villages are Ždiar at its southern foot (about 3 km), Osturňa to the north (5 km), Malá Franková to the north-east (5 km) and Veľká Franková (6 km).

Priehrštie is the junction of a long spur that drops north to the valley of the Osturniansky potok and separates the valleys of the Bystrá and Kremeniak streams. The south-eastern slopes fall to the Ždiar valley, drained by the Zorický potok. To the north lie Bystrý vrch (991 m), Malorovka (957 m) and Zlomiská (1019 m), to the east Solisko (1123 m), Vysoký vrch (1104 m) and Slodičovský vrch (1167 m), to the west Strednica (1127 m) and Repisko (1259 m). The summit's prominence is about 94 m.

How to get there / routes

The main hiking route of the Spišská Magura passes close to the summit, and near Priehrštie it reaches its highest point:

• Blue trail along the main ridge: from the east from Magurské sedlo via Spádik, Smrečiny, Malá poľana and Magurka; from the south-west from Ždiar-Strednica via the Pri Tablici junction. The whole ridge route from Magurské sedlo to Strednica takes about 6 h 50 min.
• Red trail via Magurka: from the south from Ždiar, from the north-east from Malá Franková.
• Yellow trail from the north from Osturňa via Magurka.
• Green trail from Osturňa to the Pri Tablici junction.

What you can see from the top

Continuous, partly sparse forest covers the summit itself, so the view from it is very limited. From the open meadows on the ridge you can see the neighbouring peaks of the Spišská Magura, the nearby Belianske Tatras, further the Levoča Hills, Babia Góra and the border hills of southern Poland. The mountain itself is easy to pick out on panoramas of the Spišská Magura taken from Łapszanka in Poland against the Tatras.

Nature and history

Although the summit is wooded, much of the slopes is open – fields, meadows, clearings and pastures of Ždiar and Osturňa. After 1980 farming gradually stopped here and the land is being reclaimed by forest, though large open areas are still visible on aerial images. Water from the northern slopes flows via the Bystrá and Kremeniak to the Osturniansky potok in the Dunajec basin, from the southern slopes via tributaries of the Ždiarsky potok to the Biela in the Poprad basin. The ridge carries the boundary of the buffer zones of the Pieniny (PIENAP) and Tatra (TANAP) national parks; the south-eastern slopes belong to the TANAP buffer zone.

Safety, season and rules

The ridge route is long and there are no springs by the path on the wooded crest – carry water. In winter the Spišská Magura is under deep snow, so snowshoes or cross-country skis are needed. In the national-park buffer zones do not leave litter and do not light fires outside designated places. In Slovakia the Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) operates: 18 300 (+421 18 300); the general emergency number is 112.

Interesting facts

• The mountain has at least three names: Priehrštie, Javorinka and Penčákova hora.
• Near Priehrštie the blue Spišská Magura ridge route reaches its highest point.
• The ridge forms the watershed between the Dunajec and Poprad basins.

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