What to See in Świętokrzyski National Park - Top Sights and Attractions

Modest peak with forested hiking trails. Łysica is the highest mountain in Świętokrzyskie Mountains of Poland. Its height is 614 metres. It is located in the Świętokrzyski National Park and there is an abbey below it, on a site that might have been a pagan temple before the times of baptism of Poland.

Łysica, which is also called Gora Swietej Katarzyny (St. Catherine's Mountain) lies in western part of the Lysogory range, near the village of Swieta Katarzyna. It belongs to the so-called Crown of Polish Mountains (“Korona Gor Polskich”), as it is the highest mountain of Holy Cross Mountains. Łysica has two peaks - western (613 m) and Eastern (Agatha's rock, pol. Skała Agaty) - 614 m)).

The mountain is made of quartzite and slate, its northern and southern slopes are marked by the stone run. Furthermore, on the southern slope, at the height of 590 meters, there is a small bog. Most of Łysica is covered by a forest, near the peak there are fir trees, below which are beeches. Łysica is inhabited by birds of prey, such as the lesser spotted eagle, the Eurasian sparrowhawk, and the Eurasian hobby.^[2]

Mountain range in Poland. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains, often anglicized to Holy Cross Mountains, are a mountain range in central Poland, near the city of Kielce. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains are some of the oldest mountains in Europe, and the highest between the Sudetes and the Ural Mountains.

The mountain range comprises several lesser ranges, the highest of which is Łysogóry (literally "Bald Mountains").

The two highest peaks are Łysica, 614 m (2014.44 ft), and Łysa Góra, 594 m (1948.81 ft).

Together with the Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska, the mountains form a region called the Lesser-Poland Upland (Wyżyna Małopolska).

They cover an area of 1684 km² (650 mi²).

The approximate location is 50°53′N 20°55′E.^[3]

Mountain range in Poland. Łysogóry is the largest mountain range in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains of central Poland. It is 25 km long, and runs from the Lubrzanka river in the northwest, to the area of Nowa Słupia in the southeast. It contains the highest peak of the Świetokrzyskie Mountains and its most famous mountain.

Łysogóry can be divided into two parts:

• eastern half, densely covered by the Jodlowa Wilderness (Puszcza Jodlowa), which contains both highest peaks of the range, and it lies within boundaries of Swietokrzyski National Park,
• western half, less forested and with smaller peaks.

Łysogóry is mostly made of quartzite, with numerous stone runs. The range is crossed by several tourist trail - red trail of Edmund Massalski, and two blue trails.^[4]

Chelmowa Mountain - a peak in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, located north of Nowa Słupia, in the arc of the Pokrzywianka and Słupianka Rivers being the highest elevation of the Pokrzywiański Range. The mountain is built in the main mass of light Lower Devonian sandstone covered by deposits of loess.

In 1920 on the slopes of Chelmowa Mountain a nature reserve was established, which became the beginning of the Swietokrzyski National Park. The first efforts to create a reserve, were undertaken by the Polish Society of Skiers as early as 1908. Currently the reserve is part of the Park as a separate enclave.

In the reserve there are natural stands of Polish larch (Larix polonica Racib). Some of the larches growing here are over 300 years old. The age of the oldest two specimens is 336 years, the girth is slightly over 500 cm (data for 1992). The height of the tallest ones reaches 40 m. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, their boughs, reaching 8(??) meters in diameter, led the local people to believe that the trees were about 1000 years old. During the warfare of 1944-1945 a large part of the stand was damaged, and it was replaced by young trees. To this day, the tree crowns provide shelter for 88 species of birds (there are about 150 of them in the whole province).

Research was conducted here by botanist and larch researcher, professor Marian Raciborski. It was here that Raciborski identified the Polish larch species. A monument dedicated to the professor was erected on the top of the mountain on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

There is a very high density of ant colonies on Chelm Mountain. There are about five hundred large anthills in a relatively small area. The most common species are the moth ant and the red ant.

The black tourist trail from Nowa Słupia to Szczytniak passes through the mountain.