Góra Chełm Nature Reserve

The Góra Chełm nature reserve protects a limestone hill 443 m above sea level in Hutki-Kanki, in Łazy municipality. It lies in the Trail of the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park and is one of the south-westernmost hills of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

A hill in the plain

Góra Chełm stands out clearly against the flat surroundings, because it is an inselberg crowned with rock formations.

It has two summits, at 441 and 443 m above sea level, and is made of Jurassic limestones, heavily eroded and cut by fissures. At the summit solid limestone rock is exposed. The reserve was established on 30 August 1957 on 12 ha, and in 2012 it was enlarged to 23.52 ha.

Beech woods and orchids

Most of the reserve is covered by forest, mainly beech woods with old beech stands aged 100-200 years.

On the northern slopes grows a fertile Sudetic beech wood with fir, sycamore and hornbeam. The southern and western slopes are occupied by a thermophilous orchid beech wood, whose rich undergrowth includes, among others, helleborines and white helleborines. 255 species of vascular plants have been recorded here, of which 18 are under strict protection. In spring liverworts, primroses and lungworts bloom. Among the 35 breeding bird species are the black woodpecker, green woodpecker and hoopoe.

Practical information

• The reserve lies about 300 m east of the centre of Hutki-Kanki and about 7 km east of Łazy.
• The green Millennium Trail (Bytom - Siewierz - Podzamcze - Skarżyce) runs through the reserve. The red Szwajcaria Zagłębiowska Trail also leads through Hutki-Kanki.
• Nature protection rules apply in the reserve, so keep to the trail.
• Nearby are the ruins of Ogrodzieniec Castle, about 7 km as the crow flies.