Hala Gasienicowa

Hala Gasienicowa is an open meadow at about 1,500 metres in a basin below the main Tatra ridge, reached in a couple of hours from Kuznice on either the Boczan trail or the easier Jaworzynka route, and its importance is as a junction: trails leave it for Swinica, Kasprowy Wierch, Kozi Wierch, the Zawrat pass and over Krzyzne into the Valley of Five Lakes, so most multi-day walking in the eastern Tatras passes through it. On the meadow are the Murowaniec refuge, a stone and timber hut built in 1921-1925, a scientific station where weather measurements began in 1913, and a shepherd's hut selling oscypek in season. Small tarns lie above it. It is one of the few places in the Tatras where you can sit for an hour and watch the whole system of the mountains working.

History

The meadow is named after the Gąsienica family, a large highland clan from around Zakopane who owned it in the 17th century; locals used to call it the pasture of the ponds, and Austrian documents of the early 1800s the Valley of Seven Ponds. It was one of the bigger shepherding centres of the Tatras, and the grass itself is man-made: shepherds cut back the dwarf pine that once covered the basin, and since grazing ended the pine has been creeping back. In 1700 the Gąsienicas swapped it for another pasture, but a court ruling returned it to them in 1796; inheritance then split it among owners from many villages below the mountains, and when the state bought it from the highlanders in 1961 it had 381 owners (Polish Wikipedia, Hala Gąsienicowa).

Highlights

• A trail junction - routes to Swinica, Zawrat, Kozi Wierch and the Five Lakes leaving the meadow.
• The Murowaniec refuge - stone and timber, built in 1921-1925 and opened in 1925.
• The research station - measurements here began in December 1913, with breaks in 1917-1926 and in the war; the Polish Academy of Sciences station dates from 1953 and shares its building with a weather station (the institute's history).
• A shepherd's hut - oscypek cheese sold on the meadow in season.

When to go

June to October. A day, or as a base for longer walking.

Before you go

The refuge is booked out through summer and is crowded in the day. The walk up from Kuznice takes about two hours with real ascent. Weather changes fast at this height. Trails beyond the meadow are exposed mountain routes.

Nearby

Kasprowy Wierch is west; the Valley of Five Lakes is east over Krzyzne.

Key facts