Snieznik Massif

Snieznik reaches 1,423 metres on the Polish-Czech border and is the high point of the eastern Sudetes, a broad rounded massif of gneiss and mica schist with a bare grassy summit above the treeline. A stone tower stood on the top from 1899 until it was demolished as unsafe in 1973; a replacement, in steel and timber with an enclosed viewing level, was completed and opened in 2022, so the summit has a lookout again after nearly fifty years without one. On the northern flank at Kletno is Jaskinia Niedzwiedzia, the bear cave, found by quarrying in 1966 and one of the more important caves in Poland - about three kilometres surveyed, with formations and a very large assemblage of Pleistocene animal bones including cave bear, which is what it is named for; a section is open on a guided route with numbers capped. Snow lies on the massif into spring.

What's there

• The eastern Sudetes high point - 1,423 metres with a bare grassy summit on the border.
• A tower again since 2022 - replacing the 1899 one demolished in 1973.
• Jaskinia Niedzwiedzia - the bear cave at Kletno, with Pleistocene bone deposits.
• Snow into spring - the massif holding it well after the valleys clear.

When to go

May to October for walking; winter with equipment. A day.

Things to know

Cave numbers are capped daily and it closes in winter for bats - book ahead. The summit is exposed and weather changes fast. Ascents from the valleys are three hours or more. The tower queues at weekends.

Nearby

Miedzygorze and Wilczki waterfall are west; Kletno is on the northern flank.

Key facts