Vápenná

Vápenná (also Roštún; German Rachsthurn) is a 752 m summit and the third highest peak of the Little Carpathians. It rises above the village of Plavecké Podhradie, about 18 km east of Malacky, in Malacky District of the Bratislava Region, and reaches into the lands of Sološnica and Plavecké Podhradie. Thanks to the lookout tower on its top it is one of the best-known hiking goals in the area.

Vápenná lies in the central part of the range, in the Pezinok Carpathians, on a narrow limestone and dolomite ridge running from south-west to north-east. It is part of the main ridge, which arrives from the north from Veterlín via Čierna skala and continues south to the massive Vysoká (754 m). Neighbouring peaks are Pohanská (495 m) to the north, Klokoč (661 m) and Mesačná (462 m) to the east, Jelenec (694 m) and Biela skala (561 m) to the south and Malá Vápenná (573 m) to the west. The southern part of the ridge is drained by the Sološnický stream and the northern slopes by the Plavecký stream, both flowing to the Rudava in the Morava basin; the eastern slopes are the source area of the Parná river.

How to get there / routes

• Yellow trail – from Plavecké Podhradie to just below the summit; the shortest climb from the northern foot.
• Green trail – from Sološnica from the west, or from Častá from the south-east via the Mesačná lúka junction.
• Red trail – the Štefánik Trail (Štefánikova magistrála), which here is also the Heroes of the SNP trail and the European E8: from the Sološnická dolina in the south-west or from Záruby via the Amonova lúka junction in the north.
• Loop option – after the summit follow the red trail via Klokoč to Amonova lúka, then the blue one past the ruins of Plavecký hrad back to Plavecké Podhradie.

What you can see from the top

The ridge and summit are covered by continuous forest, so views are limited, but the rocks and the tower give an all-round panorama: the surrounding Little Carpathians, the Borská nížina lowland and part of the Danubian Lowland and, in good conditions, part of the White Carpathians, Považský Inovec, Tribeč, often Vtáčnik and even the foothills of the Alps.

Nature and history

On the summit stands a reinforced-concrete lookout tower about 5 m high, shaped like an obelisk, with a steel platform and a ladder, built in 2003. The massif belongs to the Roštún national nature reserve, with the highest, fifth degree of protection; the reserve is part of the Malé Karpaty Protected Landscape Area. There are several caves in the limestone massif.

The limestone crags and open woods shelter warmth-loving plants. Here, at 748 m, the highest recorded occurrence of the spring speedwell (Veronica praecox) was found.

Safety, season and rules

The climbs are short but steep and stony in places, and the limestone is slippery after rain. As the summit lies in a fifth-degree reserve, stay on marked trails, do not pick plants and do not light fires. Climb the tower ladder carefully, especially with children. In the Slovak mountains help comes from the Mountain Rescue Service HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300) or 112.

Interesting facts

• The mountain's second name, Roštún, is shared with the reserve it lies in.
• The top of Vápenná is less wooded than that of Záruby, the highest peak of the Little Carpathians, so the views from its tower are considered better.

Photos: Stanislav Doronenko, CC BY 3.0; Lure, CC BY-SA 3.0; Pistal, CC BY-SA 4.0; Lure, CC BY-SA 3.0; Lure, CC BY-SA 3.0; Lure, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.