Mountains
1,215 m peak in the Silesian Beskids with a steel viewing tower and the sources of the Vistula on its slopes
Mountains
a pass at 934 m, crossed by the road from Szczyrk to Wisła and a junction of trails
Lakes
a dam reservoir from 1973 in Wisła Czarne, a drinking water reservoir below Barania Góra
Parks and nature
a strict reserve with near-primeval forest and the sources of the Black and White Wisełka
Viewpoints
a wooden observation tower by the Szarcula pass with a view of Czerniański Lake
Parks and nature
a water reserve of the Vistula headwater streams, established in 1959 for the brown trout
Cemeteries and monuments
Lutheran cemetery of 1819 with a chapel and the graves of Wisła residents who served the town
Viewpoints
a wooden tower with a platform on the Kubalonka summit, with a view of Lake Czerniańskie
Free attractions in Wisła: Barania Góra and the river's beginnings, Lake Czerniańskie, timber lookout towers and nature reserves. Eight places, no ticket.
The town of Wisła has a name for mountains and skiing, yet many of its best places have no ticket office. All you need is boots and decent weather to see where the river begins, a dam, two wooden towers and forest reserves. They are described below from the peaks down to the valley.
The highest is Barania Góra, with lower options in the Salmopolska Pass, the Kubalonka tower and the Szarcula tower. The four differ in height and in how you reach them, so it is easy to match a goal to your fitness.
Barania Góra rises 1,215 metres and is the second-highest summit of the Silesian Beskids after Skrzyczne. Sometimes 1,220 metres is quoted, but that figure refers to a survey point on an obelisk. The Vistula begins its course on the western slopes, and a steel lookout tower stands at the top. The summit sits on the border of the Cieszyn and Żywiec districts. Where exactly the river rises is explained in the article Barania Góra: where the Vistula really begins.
Known also as Biały Krzyż, the Salmopolska Pass sits at 934 metres. Provincial road 942 runs through it from Wisła to Szczyrk, and the spot is a hub of hiking trails with a car park and an inn. Both lookout towers are wooden and face Lake Czerniańskie. Kubalonka (830 metres) is a low tower with one platform; you climb a ladder to get up, which gets tricky with young children and on wet timber. Szarcula stands in the Silesian Beskids Landscape Park beside the pass of the same name, and a road from the Czarna Wisełka valley leads to it.
By the water, see Lake Czerniańskie, and in the forests two reserves: Barania Góra and Wisła. The first protects forest, the second water.
Lake Czerniańskie, in the Czarne district of Wisła, is a reservoir from 1973 formed where the Biała and Czarna Wisełka meet. It serves for flood retention and as a drinking-water store, holds 4.5 million cubic metres, and its dam is 37 metres high and 270 long. The Barania Góra reserve, 379.85 hectares, was created in 1953 as a strict forest reserve on the western slopes of the mountain, with the headwater areas of both Wisełka streams. The forests were already protected here in the nineteenth century by the Habsburgs of Cieszyn, who came to hunt capercaillie. The Wisła reserve, from 1959, is a water reserve of under eighteen hectares covering the headwater streams of the river at altitudes of 575 to 995 metres.
Yes, the Lutheran cemetery Na Groniczku at Groniczek 4. It belongs to the Evangelical Augsburg parish, so the behaviour expected in any cemetery applies.
The cemetery was consecrated on 21 November 1819, and a week later the first person, Paweł Cieślar, was buried in it. Over the years it was enlarged several times. A chapel of 1948 stands on it, and distinguished residents rest here. The wider history of the town is told in Wisła: from a shepherds' settlement to a summer resort and presidential residence.
Barania Góra with its tower, the Salmopolska Pass, the towers at Kubalonka and Szarcula, Lake Czerniańskie, two reserves and the Lutheran cemetery.
On the western slopes of Barania Góra, around the headwaters of the Czarna and Biała Wisełka.
Kubalonka is harder, since you climb a ladder and wet timber can be slippery. The description of Szarcula does not say what the entry is like, so check it on the spot before you set out.
