Table mountains (PL)

Stolové hory - Góry Stolowe – National park (PL)

National park Stolové hory, literally the table mountains, is situated on the Czech-Polish borders and includes the Polish part of the mountains, Gory Stolowe. Character of the Polish mountains, Szczeliniec and Bledne Skaly, is vastly different from the rest of the mountain systems in this region. A lower part reaches around 750 metres above sea level. The upper part consists of several individual systems, reaching sometimes 100 to 150 metres above surroundings.

Protected area covers around 63 square kilometres of highlands, including the highest peaks Velká Hejšovina, Szczeliniec Wielki - 919 metres and Saklniak - 915 metres. Several famous spa resorts are located in the inner area of the park: Polanica, Duszniki and Kudowa Zdroj.

Individual stone formations weather differently, creating fascinating sculptures and ravines.

History

Stolové mountains have a (in Europe unique) construction from flat geological structures. The stones consist of flatly lying sandstone divided by limestone and glauconite. They arose in marine environment which, in late cretaceous period- some 100 milion years ago, reached the middle-sudeten basin. Proclaimed a national park in 1993, however, the most beautiful places of the mountains were legislatively protected since the fifties. At that time, three natural reservations were proclaimed: Bludné skály (Bledne Skaly), Velká Hejšovina and Batorowské rašeliniště (Torfowisko Batorowskie)

Present

The mountains are a very attractive and turistically very well known destination. The area of the national park is interlaced with a dense net of marked pathways with total length of around 100 km, among other a part of the Hlavní Sudetská stezka/ Glowny Szlak Sudecki- the main Sudeten trail, or M.Orlowicza. These allow access to the most important monuments of the massif: beautiful stone city on Velká Hejšovina -919 metres- the highest peak of Stolové mountains, rock labyrinths Bludné skály in the Bor massif (Skalniak – 915 metres), Skalní hříby (Skalne Grzyby) and Radkovské skály (Radkowskoe Skaly), Výří skály (Skaly Puchacza) with beautiful vista, Łezycké skály (Łezyckie Skalki) lying in a savana resembling land.

The Stolové hory national park is a well known destination, mostly Bludné skály and Velké Hejšoviny trails, on others it´s usually difficult to find many tourists, which increases the attractiveness of wandering. Georgeous stone formations-mushrooms, columns, cudgels or towers are found in an area called Skalné hříby/Skalne Grzyby (norht-eastern part of the Stolové hory national park), also in the Radkovské skály or around Bíle skály (Biale Skaly), lying near Naroznik. Numerous trail offer cyclo-tourism as well. The national parl Stolové hory, connecting Kudowa Zdroj and Radkow, is split by an extraordinary picturesque Silnice sta zatáček (Szosa Stu Zakretow, The road of a hundred curves).

Local Flora consist of approximatly 600 species of vascular plants (including 48 taxons under strict protection), 272 species of moss and 112 of lichen. Major part of the park is covered in spruce woods, 90%, and also beech or fir woods.To protect the most valuable ecosystems there was a part of the park excluded from all tourist activities, Velké Batorowské rašeliniště/Wielke Torfowisko Batorowskie. Despite several attempts to drain this spread swamp is it´s majority still under water. One can find endemits there, like Pinus palustris, Saxifraga paniculata and some typically mud-seeking species, Empetrum nigrum, Rhododendron tomentosum, Erica tetralix, Vaccinium oxycoccos, Scheuchzeria palustris, Calamagrostis canescens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea Linnaeus, Orchis mascula and Drosera rotundifolia. Many precious species of moss are also found there. Diverse vegetative ecosystems spread on area of around 300 ha. Among these, the most spectacular are rich muddy meadows with dense population of protected plants. Fauna is less diverse, however, relativly rich in size: dears, wild boars, does, martens, weasels and hedgehogs. Some protected bird species settled in the park: grouse, nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), bullfinch, eagle-owl, wagtail, sparrow-hawk and also snakes: viper, grass snake and slow worm.