Raba River

The Raba is a right-bank tributary of the Vistula in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is 131.9 km long, its basin covers 1,537.1 km², and 86% of that basin lies in the Carpathians. The Raba rises in the Beskids between Rabka and Nowy Targ, flows north and north-east through the Beskids and the foothills, and in the Sandomierz Basin near Uście Solne joins the Vistula. For centuries its valley was an important route along which villages and towns grew; the river's name is probably of Celtic origin.

The course: from source to mouth

The springs of the Raba lie on the Obidowa ridge, on the slopes of Kułakowy Wierch, at about 774 m; the river is also fed by streams from below Żeleźnica in the Beskid Orawsko-Podhalański and from Rabska Góra. Its course is divided into three parts: the upper course in the Beskids (60 km, average gradient 8.5‰), the middle course in the foothills (34 km) and the lower course in the Sandomierz Basin (43 km). Down to Myślenice the Raba is a typical mountain river with a stony bed, a dense network of steep tributaries and narrow valleys.

The river flows north-east down a narrow valley through Sieniawa, Raba Wyżna, Chabówka and Rabka-Zdrój. Below, it crosses the basin of Mszana Dolna, where it turns north-west, passes between Szczebel and Lubogoszcz, and from Lubień runs straight north through Pcim to Myślenice. On this stretch the Raba separates the Beskid Makowski from the Beskid Wyspowy. Between Myślenice and Dobczyce it is held back by the dam of the Dobczyce reservoir; below, it still meanders over gravel for a long way, passing Gdów and Bochnia. Tributaries include the Poniczanka, Słonka, Mszanka, Kasinianka, Krzczonówka, Trzemeśnianka and the largest right-bank one, the Stradomka.

What to see along the river

• Chabówka Railway Open-Air Museum — steam locomotives and carriages by the railway junction above the Raba.
• Rabka-Zdrój spa: brine graduation tower, pump rooms, treatments — a spa in the Raba valley.
• Władysław Orkan Museum in Rabka-Zdrój — close to the riverbank.
• Lake Dobczyce — an artificial lake between Myślenice and Dobczyce (see below).

The river and people

The Raba is one of the few large rivers of the Polish Carpathians on which rafts were never floated and boats never sailed. Wincenty Pol wrote that of all the Vistula's tributaries the Raba's waters are the wildest: down to Myślenice the bed is blocked by mountain weirs, in the upper course by fallen trees and stones, with frequent shallows, lower down by sharp bends, and there was little timber upstream, so there was nothing to float. Floods on the Raba were a familiar disaster until the Dobczyce reservoir was built in 1986. The decision was taken in 1970; before filling, 70 ha of forest were cut down and villages, roads, a cemetery, schools and factories were moved. The dam is 30 m high and 617 m long, the lake covers up to 10.65 km² and holds 127 million m³. The reservoir supplies about 55% of Kraków's drinking water, so for sanitary reasons access to the water is banned; a small hydroelectric plant works below the dam.

Nature and safety

The Raba is home to the noble crayfish, and until the 1970s European pond turtles lived in the oxbows between Pcim and Lubień. The Dobczyce reservoir has become a refuge for waterbirds — grey herons, gulls and mute swans. Access to the reservoir's water is not allowed, as it is a drinking-water source. The Raba is a fast mountain river, so after downpours and in spring keep away from undercut banks. Mountain rescue is GOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; the general emergency number is 112.

Nearby: peaks, trails, huts

Above Rabka rises Luboń Wielki, reached by the trail Rabka – Luboń. Above the valley between Mszana Dolna and Lubień stand Szczebel and Lubogoszcz, and the Main Trail of Beskidy crosses the Raba valley.

Photos: Mach240390, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; If you are willing to use this photo, please caption it as follows: author:..., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Mathieu Mars, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.