Pusta Wielka (1,061 m a.s.l.) is a forested peak in the southern part of the Jaworzyna Krynicka Range in the Beskid Sądecki mountains — quiet, unhurried, and full of small surprises for those willing to explore beyond the popular trails. It sits at the meeting point of four villages, wrapped in beech and fir forest with meadows slowly reclaiming the hillsides.

The summit itself is wooded, but just below the top on the southern side a large, gradually overgrown clearing opens up — a silent reminder of the Lemko communities who once farmed these slopes. On the western flanks there are more meadows, while the eastern slopes down towards Szczawnik host a ski lift. The forest is wonderfully shaded in summer and blazes with colour in autumn, making the ridge walk a real pleasure in either season.

• Żegiestów-Zdrój — yellow trail via Pusta Wielka to the chapel below Jaworzynka, approx. 3 h 30 min up, easy to moderate
• Żegiestów-Zdrój — blue trail via Trzy Kopce, Pusta Wielka, Jaworzynka and Bacówka above Wierchomla to Runek, approx. 3 h 45 min up, moderate
• Żegiestów-Zdrój — black trail directly to Pusta Wielka, approx. 3 h up, moderate

• The peak lies within the Popradzki Landscape Park.
• The Wierchomla Nature Reserve on the northern slopes protects ancient beech-fir forest and sandstone rock formations.
• About 50 m west of the summit there is a small cave — 'Grota pod Pustą Wielką' — just 3 m long but worth a quick look.

The meadows that once covered these hillsides were gradually reforested after the forced displacement of the Lemko people in 1947 — a walk here is as much a journey through history as it is through nature.