The seven valleys located in Zabierzów Community about 20 kilometres from
Cracow belong to the group of the most picturesque valleys in Cracow Valley
Landscape Park.All of them are a natural reserve really worth visiting, but let
us take you for a walk to the three of them.
Bolechowicka Valley starts at the amazing rock gate called the
Bolechowicka Gate. This unusual rock formation is 30 metres high and
attracts tourists’ attention at all seasons of the year. Walking through the
gorge (1.5 km long) one can listen to the relaxing sound of the small stream
that runs through it. If you continue on the main path, you will reach a tiny
waterfall hidden in the middle of the gorge. In the valley you are
surrounded by beautiful nature: trees, bushes, flowers and birds (including
woodpeckers and pheasants). If you are lucky, you will catch a glimpse of
deer, foxes, squirrels or even wild boars. Don’t forget to stay quiet and
calm then!
Kobylańska Valley also known as Karniowicka Valley (4 km long) is a
favourite place of paragliders and speleologists as well as people who like
walking and camping. The Jurassic limestone steep rocks attract rock climbers.
Visiting the valley one can notice the stone steps which lead up to the rock
cave with a way-shrine of St. Mary inside. It is believed to be a place of
revelation in 1914. Tourists can also see a rare type of fern and Kobylańskie
Spring – a monument of nature.
Kluczwody Valley (7 km long) is an ideal place for practising walking and
biking as it has 2 walking and two biking trails. There are numerous
rocks in it from the tops of which you can admire the panorama of the valley.
One of them is called The Castle Rock where you can see the remains of the
medieval knight castle from XIV century. Another curiosity about this place
is the fact that at the period of partitions there was the Russian-Austrian
border along the torrent flowing through the valley. To commemorate this fact
there are still two border poles situated on the both sides of it.
In the near vicinity of Kluczwody Valley tourists can visit the Wierzchowska
Cave with its fabulous underground maze of chambers and corridors. It is
worth mentioning that it has the longest tourist route of all caves in Poland
(1000 metres). Wierzchowska Cave has been a place of interest for historians
and archeologists since XIX century. They found here the traces of human
settling from the Neolithic Period.
