Sarnia Skała (1378 m a.s.l.) is one of the most rewarding easy summits in the Western Tatra Mountains — a rocky ridge that punches well above its weight when it comes to views. From the top you get a spectacular face-on panorama of the Giewont massif, and on the other side, the whole spread of Zakopane laid out below you.

The summit forms a rocky crest about 300 metres long, built from dolomitic limestone. A small meadow tucked beneath the cliffs is slowly being reclaimed by dwarf pine. In spring and summer the bare rock comes alive with lime-loving wildflowers — eight-petalled mountain avens, one-sided bellflower, alpine buttercup and several species of saxifrage. It is a botanical hotspot: the peak is famous for a curious phenomenon where all vegetation zones are shifted downward by as much as 200 m, pushing the treeline to a record low of 1300 m a.s.l. — a direct consequence of the shadowing effect of Giewont's massive walls and strong north-westerly winds funnelled through the saddle.

• Kuźnice → Hala Kalatówki → Czerwona Przełęcz → Sarnia Skała — red trail (Ścieżka nad Reglami), approx. 1 h 25 min to the pass, then 10 min to the top — easy
• From Polana Strążyska via Czerwona Przełęcz — approx. 50 min to the pass, then 10 min to the summit — easy

• A valid Tatra National Park entry ticket is required to hike here.
• The summit gets very busy in summer — an early morning start is strongly recommended.
• Look out for carvings left in the rock by treasure hunters from centuries past.

Keep an eye out for the Thuringian whitebeam — a rare hybrid rowan discovered here in 1956 during a Polish Botanical Society congress, and at that time entirely new to science in Poland. It still grows among the dwarf pines on the Zakopane-facing slope, a living reminder of how botanically extraordinary this modest little peak really is.