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Góry Stołowe National Park, Poland

Pawel Jaworski

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ul. Słoneczna 31
57-350 Kudowa Zdrój
tel/fax: (0 prefiks 74) 866 20 97, 866 14 36

pngs@interia.pl
www.pngs.pulsar.net.pl

Location and Area

Góry Stołowe National Park spreads over the Polish part of the Stołowe Mountains, which create central part of Middle Sudety range, in south-western Poland (lower Silesia region) on the border with Czech Republic. It was established in 1993.

Geological Facts

Stołowe Mountains, which literally means table mountains have been formed throughout recent 70 million years, as protruding slabs which are unique in Europe and surprise viewers with their amazing shapes. The best known are the Hen, the Camel and the Giants Head. Joint sandstone slabs and towers form a system of corridors and rock labyrinths, which are particularly well developed in the area known as Błędne Skały (Errant Rock).

Plant Life

The Park has approximately 650 species of vascular plants, of which 46 are under protection. At present, the vegetation mostly consists of spruce forests of external origin introduced there at the turn of the 20th century to replace exploited beech and fir forests. Forest communities close to original ones have been preserved on small areas only and make up 3% of afforested land.

Animal Life

Huge and dense forests are a hiding place for red deer, roe deer, wild boar, foxes, squirrels (red and black) and small rodents. Insectivores are represented by hedgehogs which are quite common there, in contrast to small shrew and mountain shrew, of which the latter is typical for mountain regions.

Bird watchers will enjoy the rare sight of hazel grouse, woodcock, black stork, honey buzzard, hobby as well as pygmy owl and Tengmalm's Owl, typical for boreal forest areas (taiga). Rocks are home to eagle owl, kestrel, raven, nuthatch and black redstart. Vast grasslands are a nesting place for quail and corncracker, which are quite rare in Europe. Water birds include water dipper which lives in the vicinity of swift mountain streams, and also grey wagtail. Common Polish reptiles living in the Park include adder, grass snake, sand lizard and slow worm. Among rare species are salamanders, alpine newts, smooth newts and common newts.

Local History

The history of the Stołowe Mountains runs similarly to history of Kłodzko region, where three lands of Silesia, Bohemia and Moravia met. Trade routes joining Bohemia and basin of the Odra river went through this region, following river valleys between the Stołowe Mountains and Orlickie Mountains. The routes were overlooked by fortified castles in Homole (ruins still exits), Ratno and Radków which were first mentioned on the turn of the 13th century.

After the Hussite wars ceased, the region had almost a hundred years of peace to recover and develop throughout the 16th century. At that time, spas in Kudowa, Duszniki and Polanica started to attract their first guests and the region began to develop linen and cloth manufactures. Duszniki became a centre of paper industry; one of the oldest paper mills in Europe, built in 1605, can still be visited there.