Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza (Mickiewicz Waterfalls)

The roar of water between two valleys

Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza (the Mickiewicz Waterfalls) are a chain of falls in the High Tatras on the Roztoka stream, which flows out of the Valley of the Five Polish Lakes. They consist of three larger and several smaller cascades from 3 to 10 m high: the Upper, Middle and Lower Wodogrzmot. The falls formed where the side valley of Roztoka “hangs” above the main Białka valley: according to TPN, the glacier carved the main valley deeper because its tongue was larger and heavier, so the water from the side valley has to drop over a rock step. Relict larches and stone pines grow on the slopes above.

The name means “water-thunder”, after the roar of the falling water, especially after rain; the old folk name was simply Grzmot (Thunder). The Tatra Society named the falls after the poet Adam Mickiewicz in 1891 to commemorate the transfer of his remains to Wawel. Curiously, Mickiewicz himself never visited the Tatras. A memorial plaque from 1891 was set into the rock by the Lower fall, and footpaths to the falls were laid as early as 1886.

What to see

• The Middle fall — best seen from the stone road bridge built in 1900 and widened in 1966. The Upper fall is barely visible above it, and the Lower one lies below the bridge and is inaccessible.
• The viewpoint on the bend a little further towards Morskie Oko — from here you can see Gerlach, the highest peak of the Tatras, among others.
• The start of the green trail up the Roztoka Valley — to Wielka Siklawa and the Valley of the Five Polish Lakes — and down to the Roztoka hut.

Practical information

Getting there. The falls are on the Oswald Balzer Road between Palenica Białczańska and Morskie Oko, about 2.9 km from the start of the route. On foot along the asphalt it takes about 50 minutes up and 40 minutes down — an easy walk suitable for families with children and for pushchairs. Since 1 September 2026, in a TPN pilot scheme, horse carts carry visitors exactly from Palenica to Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza (up to 10 adult passengers per cart uphill), so this is where the walking part of the road to the lake begins: Morskie Oko is about 1.5 hours further on. The carts do not run on Easter Sunday, Corpus Christi, 1 November or 25 December. There are portable toilets by the falls.

Parking and tickets. The TPN car parks at Palenica Białczańska and Łysa Polana admit only cars with an e-ticket bought in advance on the TPN website (36–75 zł online; best to arrive before 8:00). The TPN entry ticket costs 11 zł, reduced 5.50 zł. TPN e-buses between Palenica and the Włosienica clearing do not stop at the falls, as they run without intermediate stops.

Safety and rules. Do not leave the bridge or the road to reach the water: the rocks are wet and slippery. Dogs, drones and bicycles are banned on the Morskie Oko road, and from 1 March to 30 November trails may not be used between dusk and dawn.

Nearby

• Morskie Oko — the most famous lake in the Polish Tatras, about 1.5 hours' walk further up.
• Wielka Siklawa — Poland's highest waterfall, about 2 hours along the green trail.
• Wielki Staw Polski — the deepest lake in the Tatras, in the Valley of Five Lakes.

Official website: tpn.gov.pl

Photos: Aneta Pawska, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Cybularny, CC0, Wikimedia Commons; Lukas Plewnia from Winterthur, Schweiz, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons; Tomasz Józefczak, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.