Witches' Waterfall, Ciężkowice

The Witches' Waterfall (Wodospad Czarownic), also called the Ciężkowice Waterfall (Wodospad Ciężkowicki), is a waterfall at the end of the Ciężkowice Gorge, also known as the Witches' Gorge (Wąwóz Czarownic), in the small town of Ciężkowice, Tarnów County, Lesser Poland. It lies in the Ciężkowice Foothills (Pogórze Ciężkowickie) of the Outer Carpathians, in the Ciężkowice-Rożnów Landscape Park, next to the famous rock-pillar reserve "Petrified City" (Skamieniałe Miasto). The gorge is a protected natural monument.

The gorge, about 40 m long and up to 4 m wide, is enclosed by rock walls over ten metres high. Its floor is uneven, with several steps and sloping slabs, and roughly halfway along the gorge forks. The main western branch ends in a vertical wall about 14.5 m high, down which runs water from the source of a stream above it. According to Polish Wikipedia it is a stepped waterfall with two steps of Ciężkowice sandstone and a total height of 14 m, but only the lower step is visible from the gorge — the water falls from a height of about 10 m. The falling water has carved typical potholes into the sandstone. The gorge most probably formed in a zone of tectonic fractures that made it easier for the valley floor to deepen.

The name comes from a legend that witches and devils hold their sabbaths in this gorge. Another legend, told by the Małopolska tourist portal, says the waterfall's water is the tears of a girl whom the owner of the local stronghold, breaking the law of hospitality, treacherously handed over in exchange for the village of Kąśna.

What to see

• The lower step of the waterfall in a rock amphitheatre at the end of the gorge — most spectacular after heavy downpours.
• The gorge itself with its sandstone walls, steps and potholes — green and cool even in summer.
• The icefall in winter, when the water freezes into fanciful icicles (but the gorge is then hard to access).
• The Petrified City reserve across the road — rock pillars with legendary names, linked to the waterfall by the same blue trail.

How to get there

The entrance to the gorge is on the left of the road from Ciężkowice to Staszkówka: there is a small car park, a resting place and a wooden gate. A path with handrails leads down, and the gorge begins right after a footbridge over a tributary of the Ostruszanka stream. The blue trail leads to the waterfall — the same one that passes through the Petrified City; it is part of the long route Tarnów – Wielki Rogacz. The walk is short and easy, but the path with steps is not suitable for prams. From the reserve you can go down a path to the tarmac road, walk about 50 m to the right along it and go down through the gate into the gorge — an extra quarter of an hour or so one way. Entry to the path in the reserve and the car park next to it are paid.

Season and safety

The waterfall can be visited all year round; in the 21st century it carries little water, and in a long drought the stream dries up, so spring or after rain is the best time. In winter the gorge is slippery and hard to access. Do not climb the rock walls and steps and do not leave litter — this is a natural monument in a landscape park. In an emergency call 112.

Nearby

The Ciężkowice-Rożnów Landscape Park stretches south-west to Lake Rożnów (Jezioro Rożnowskie) on the Dunajec (about 20 km). Other waterfalls of the Polish Carpathians worth seeing: Magurski Waterfall in the Low Beskids and Sopotnia Wielka Falls in the Żywiec Beskids.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; N4d1n, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.