Ciezkowice Petrified City

Skamieniale Miasto - the petrified city - is a reserve of about fifteen hectares on a wooded slope above Ciezkowice, where the Ciezkowice sandstone has weathered into free-standing blocks, walls and towers scattered through beech and hornbeam, and the name comes from the impression of ruined buildings among the trees rather than from any single formation. The blocks are individually named - Warownia the stronghold, Grunwald, Piesek the little dog, Czarownica the witch - and a marked loop of a few kilometres passes them in two to three hours, with steps, ladders and a viewpoint. A small waterfall on the Czerwona stream is on the route in wet seasons. It is a good family walk and considerably less crowded than the Jura or Table Mountains equivalents. Ciezkowice itself has a wooden-arcaded market square and a museum to the painter Jan Szczepkowski's contemporaries.

What you actually see

• Blocks like ruins - sandstone weathered into walls and towers among beech.
• Individually named rocks - the stronghold, the witch, the little dog and others.
• A loop with ladders - a few kilometres of marked path with steps and a viewpoint.
• A seasonal waterfall - on the Czerwona stream when the water is running.

When to go

April to October; spring for the waterfall. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

The waterfall is dry for much of the summer. Paths are muddy and slippery after rain. It is a modest reserve - not comparable in scale to the Table Mountains. A small fee applies at the entrance.

Nearby

Tarnow is north; the Beskid Niski is south.