Cyrlowa Skała (816 m a.s.l.) is one of the most secretive summits of the Czorsztyn Pieniny range — a forested rocky peak with dramatic cliff faces that rise above the treetops. No hiking trail leads to its top, yet this wild corner of the Pieniny National Park rewards the curious traveller with remarkable scenery and extraordinary botanical treasures.
The peak sits between the Trzy Kopce pass and Macelowa Góra, from which it is separated by a deep col with the Podosice glade. Its eastern slopes fall towards the Kirowy Potok valley, while the western flanks descend into the Straszny Potok valley. The steep rocky walls are best admired from the Krośnica–Sromowce Wyżne road, where the cliffs stand out sharply above the forest canopy. From the same viewpoint you can also spot the Gumionek rock to the north. The atmosphere here is genuinely wild — untouched forest, ancient limestone and the deep silence of a protected national park.
How to reach the summitBotanists will love this place: Cyrlowa Skała hosts the hill thistle, found in Poland only in the Pieniny and at just a handful of sites, the Styrian bluegrass occurring solely in the Pieniny and one spot in the Beskid Sądecki range, and the fly orchid. The name of the peak derives from the old glade 'Za Cyrlą', itself rooted in the word 'cyrhlenie' — an ancient practice of clearing forest by burning to create mountain pastures.