Przysłop (Gorce)

Przysłop is a 1,187 m summit in the Gorce mountains of southern Poland, in the Gorc range between Jaworzyna Kamienicka (1,288 m) and Gorc (1,228 m). The boundary between the villages of Zasadne (Limanowa County) and Ochotnica Górna (Nowy Targ County) in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship runs over the summit. The summit itself lies within the Gorce National Park.

Przysłop is an indistinct, double-topped mountain that rises only slightly above the ridge of the whole range. The higher western top is 1,187 m, the eastern one 1,159 m; both are ridge junctions from which side ridges branch off. From the western top a short ridge with the hump of Borysówka runs south, separating the valleys of the Jaszcze and Małe Jaszcze streams. From the eastern top a long ridge runs south-east to the Ochotniczanka valley, between its tributaries Jaszcze and Jamne. The wooded northern slopes descend to the valley of the Kamienicki Potok; on them is a rock outcrop called Czubaty Groń (Skalny Gronik).

Getting there / trails

• green — along the ridge of the Gorc range: Gorc – Przysłop Dolny – Przysłop – Przysłop Górny – Średniak – Jaworzyna glade – Trzy Kopce – Polana Gabrowska – Hala Długa – Turbacz. Distance 10.4 km, total ascent 370 m, descent 270 m, about 2 h 50 min (2 h 30 min in the opposite direction). In OpenStreetMap this section is part of the PTTK route "Grywałd – Polana Gabrowska", which passes about 85 m from the summit;
• yellow — from Ochotnica Górna up the Jamne valley via Gorczańska Chata and Kosarzyska to the Przysłop Dolny glade and the green trail: 7.1 km, 600 m of ascent, about 2 h 15 min (1 h 45 min down).

Times and distances are from the Compass map cited by Polish Wikipedia. There is no mountain hut on the summit; per OpenStreetMap the nearest shelter is about 300 m away.

What you can see from the top

The summit itself is wooded, so there is no view from it. The Przysłop Górny glade on the saddle to the west, however, is one of the best viewpoints in this part of the Gorce. It offers wide views of the Ochotniczanka valley and the neighbouring Lubań range, as well as the Sądecki Beskids, the Pieniny, the Spišská Magura and the chain of the Tatras closing the horizon. The park has set up an information board with a panorama and a description of the peaks on the glade.

Nature and history

The summit is named after the small passes on either side of it: in the language of the Vlachs who founded Ochotnica, the word "prisłop" meant a pass. On the saddle west of the western top and on its southern slopes lies the Przysłop Górny glade (25.8 ha, 1,090–1,170 m), and on the northern slopes of the eastern top the Bieniowe glade; both are within the national park. On the pass on the eastern side lies another glade, Przysłop Dolny, already outside the park.

Long after the Second World War Przysłop Górny was full of pastoral life and had a shepherds' hut, but once the area became part of the park grazing stopped, and the glade is slowly being overgrown by bilberry and scattered spruces. Between them there are fragments of meadow, and in the boggy north-western part a species-rich spring fen with valerian and sedge. Protected plants on the glade include the stemless carline thistle, the fragrant orchid, the marsh helleborine, the globe orchid and the lesser butterfly-orchid. The complex of the Bieniowe, Średniak, Przysłop Dolny and Górny glades amid large forests attracts roe deer, red deer and brown bears.

Safety, season and rules

The trails to Przysłop are forest paths and ridge tracks without rocky sections and can be walked all year round. In fog it is easy to get lost on the large glades and at the many junctions, and in winter snow stays long on the Gorce ridge. The summit and the Przysłop Górny and Bieniowe glades lie in the Gorce National Park: keep to marked trails, make no fires, leave no litter, do not pick plants and keep away from wild animals — bears live here. Current rules and any trail closures are published by the Gorce National Park. Mountain rescue in the Gorce is provided by GOPR: call 985 or +48 601 100 300; the general emergency number is 112.

Interesting facts

• The name Przysłop is of Vlach origin and means "pass" — the summit is named after the saddles on either side.
• The Przysłop Górny glade covers 25.8 ha, and the park has placed a board there with a panorama of the Tatras.
• The boundary between two counties, Limanowa and Nowy Targ, runs over the summit.

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.