SK: Slovak Paradise – Walk Across Piecky Gorge

Slovak Paradise – Love at First Sight

Every tourist will love this splendid corner of Slovakia, which stretches to the northeastern edge of the Slovak Ore Mountains in the region of Spis. The Slovak Paradise - renowned for its gorges, deeply cut into limestone massifs, as well as humming water that runs through cascades and wild waterfalls down into deep ravines. Beautiful and wild, with these adjectives we could characterize the nature of Slovak Paradise. The uniqueness and the rarity of this territory made it the highest protection, in 1988 this area was declared the Slovak Paradise National Park. One of the touristically accessible gorges is Piecky - a gorgeous and mysterious gorge that will enchant you with its magical beauty.

Accessing the Gorge

We begin the hike in the village of Pila, which extends about 5 km southwest of Hrabusice. Directly in Pila there is a paid parking lot for visitors, a ticket box where you may buy tickets to the gorges of the Slovak Paradise, as well as restaurants and boarding houses. Together with nearby Podlesko, this tourist center is also a great point from which you can take a tour of the adjacent tourist areas. Piecky is gorge, which thanks to its easy accessibility from the starting point in Pile are relatively frequented. If you want to avoid the increased number and frequency of tourists in the gorge, we recommend you to set out early in the morning . In Pila, we will join the trail Pila - Piecky which is marked with the yellow color. It will lead us through this beautiful gorge. In front of us there is a two-hour crossing through a gorge which is 4 km long with an elevation of 380 m. The front part of the gorge is called White Valley, the back is named Central Piecky.

Piecky – Magical Gorge with Waterfalls

Crossing the Piecky gorge is a breathtaking and unforgettable experience. The route is one-way only, leading from the saw to Sucha Bela hill. The hiking trail comes through a narrow valley, which predominantly cuts the Pílanka brook in massive alpine limestone. Unobstructed beauty enchants every visitor. Despite the smaller waterfalls and rock thresholds, wooden bridges are built to allow easy and safe crossing of the gorges. The wooden partitions of the stairs and bridges are wet and slippery in some places from the splashing water from the wild creeping brook. While walking through such sections, caution and certain walking are necessary. However, the biggest attraction of tourists in this gorge is the waterfalls - the Great Waterfall reaching up to 13 m, the Cascade Waterfall and the 8-meter-long Waterfall, the hiking trail runs straight up the waterfalls steadily up the steel ladders - the ravine crossing is therefore only suitable for persons , which do not suffer from dizziness or fear of heights.

Captivating, untamed, and gorgeous. This is Plecky Gorge. Hiking through this amazing gorge in wild nature is a real treat. With humility one just walks int this splendor created by the unbounded forces of nature.

GPS: (Pila settlement) 48°56'42.4"N 20°20'49.6"E 

Text and photos: Radoslav Biskupič