SK, Galmus: Extraordinary Siklava Rock – VIDEO

In the north, theHornad creates its boundary; the Markusovsky stream in the west, the Slovinsky stream in the southeast. This beautiful karst area offers several interesting tourist attractions. Poracske Valley is one of them. There is a beautiful gorge, several recreational resorts, a ski resort or Slovakia’s highest rock – Markusovsky Skalni Hrib. Near the valley there is Sarkanova Dira (Dragon’s Cave) – an extraordinary cave. Galmuska Tisina is a national reserve also worth mentioning. There are indigenous forests where yew grows.

The list of interesting places in local nature is truly long. This is, however, not the aim of this article as we intend to take you to the edge of Galmus. On the right bank of the Hornad near Matejovice nad Hornadem and Chrast nad Hornadem villages is the place we visit today. It is an unmarked trail, the trail which leads to our destination. You nead to go down a field path at first. Then you reach the crossroad with an information board situated at the later village. In about fifteen minutes from there you reach a limestone-pudding stone formation – Siklava Rock. The river created this rock through erosion. It made a long rocky overhang. A waterfall flows through it and there is also a gorge, narrow case and other karst formations. Interesting aspect of Siklava Rock is that its humidity levels are high enough throughout the year. In summer, water flows down from it. In winter it freezes thus creating fantastic icicles. They are amazing. Near this amazing place there is an information board . It tells information about this rock formation, the fauna and flora around.

Melting ice creates sort of a waterfall. Its height and width is amazing. You will constantly take pictures. Microclimate makes the frozen beauty last till late April. Sometimes even till May. However, beginning april we recommend to observe the waterfall from far away. Melting ice makes huge chunks of it, sometimes even several hundred kilos of it at once fall down.

The trip to this mountainous area makes you feel like you were in Slovak Paradise . However, there are hardly any tourists. If you love to have peaceful atmosphere in the mountains Siklava Rock is just the place for you to be.
GPS: 48°55'11.4"N 20°41'06.7"E

Text: Oskár Mažgút

Video and photos: Jozef Dovičin

Music: In Albany New York - The 126ers