Stożek Wielki (978 m a.s.l.) is one of the most distinctive peaks in the Silesian Beskids — a nearly perfect cone visible from miles around, sitting right on the Polish-Czech border and rewarding hikers with sweeping views and a welcoming mountain hut that has been open since 1922.

The mountain has a wonderful dual character: spruce forests cloak its eastern slopes while beech and mixed beech-spruce woods cover the west. From just below the summit, the panorama stretches across the Silesian Beskids, the Żywiec Beskids, and on clear days all the way to the Tatra Mountains. In winter, the eastern side transforms into a lively ski resort complete with a chairlift, drag lifts, over 3 km of pistes and a snowpark. Come summer, the same slopes host European-level downhill mountain bike competitions.

How to reach the summit

• Wisła Dziechcinka — yellow trail via Dziechcinka Valley, approx. 2 hrs 5 min, moderate
• Głębce — green trail via Łabajów Valley, approx. 1 hr 30 min, easy
• Głębce — blue trail via Mraźnica, approx. 2 hrs, moderate
• Wielka Czantoria — red trail via Przełęcz Beskidek and Soszów Wielki, approx. 2 hrs 10 min, moderate

Practical information

• The PTTK Stożek mountain hut sits just below the summit — opened in 1922, it was the first hut built by Poles in the Polish part of the Silesian Beskids.
• The Main Beskid Trail (red) passes over the summit, connecting Stożek Wielki with Barania Góra and Wielka Czantoria.
• On the Czech side of the western slope, 21 bouldering problems (grades 4–7a+ French scale) have been set on 2–3 m rock blocks.
• The Stożek Ski Resort on the eastern slope offers a chairlift and over 3 km of runs.

Look out for the striking rock outcrop just below the western summit face — a canoe-shaped slab described as early as 1891 by Jan Galicz, a pioneer of tourism in Cieszyn Silesia, who noted that the overhang beneath it could shelter a dozen people.