Gródek Arboretum Park

The Gródek Arboretum Park (Arboretum Park Gródek) in Jaworzno is a walking and nature area in former dolomite quarries, with flooded quarries of turquoise water, wooden jetties and viewpoints on rock cliffs. Despite the name it is not an arboretum in the strict, scientific sense, but a municipal park.

Where the ponds and rocks came from

The park occupies the workings left by dolomite extraction by the former “Szczakowa” Cement Works, later the “Szczakowa” Dolomite Works. According to the town’s website, extraction was carried out from about 1880 to 1990, and the area covers 58.54 ha. After extraction ceased, a diving centre was created in the Gródek reservoir. In 2012 the area was turned into a municipal park, and the present name has been in use since 2019.

Reclamation proceeded largely on its own. A mosaic of habitats arose: thermophilous grasslands, meadows, rock habitats, wetlands, water bodies, pine forests and hornbeam forests. The high cliffs left by the former extraction provided numerous viewpoints.

What you can see

The greatest fame belongs to two reservoirs with the characteristic turquoise colour of the water: Wydra and Orka. A winding wooden path leads across Wydra, from which you view the surroundings from the perspective of the water, and it is this that is photographed most often. Visitors compare the place to the Maldives. The park also has educational paths, a shepherd’s hut with pens for grazing animals, and smaller ponds named Kot (Cat) and Słoń (Elephant).

The Orka reservoir is 18.5 m deep and has two excavators and a ship sunk in it, which is why it is a prized body of water for divers. A private diving base operates there. There is some confusion in the naming: the same reservoir is sometimes called Gródek, Orka or Koparki (Excavators).

The name “arboretum”

The park has no marked dendrological collections and does not appear in the registers of arboreta or botanical gardens. It currently has the status of a municipal park. Among the trees there is the ecological site Remiza Leśna Bucze, and nearby a research station of the University of Silesia. The park is managed by the GEOsfera Ecological and Geological Education Centre.

Nearby

About 100 m from the park lies the Gródek Quarry, and about 300 m further on a nature education trail has been laid out in the park. From the centre of Jaworzno it is worth combining the visit with a walk around the Main Market Square, about 4 km away.

Practical information

• Address: Jana III Sobieskiego, Jaworzno (Pieczyska district).
• According to the town’s website admission is free and the park is open around the clock all year.
• Dogs may be brought in on a lead, aggressive ones also muzzled. Swimming in the reservoirs is not allowed. Other bans also apply; the list is on the town’s website.
• Photographs are best taken from the footbridge across Wydra and from the viewpoints on the rocks. Remember that the park is post-industrial and has steep cliffs.