Szarcula (803 m a.s.l.) is a twin-peaked ridge summit in the Barania Góra and Skrzyczne Range of the Silesian Beskids — modest in height but full of character. Dense forest, a hidden rock face for climbing, and a stretch of one of the most celebrated long-distance trails in the Polish Beskids all await you here.
The summit is entirely cloaked in forest, which gives it an intimate, sheltered atmosphere in every season. In spring and autumn the beech and spruce stands glow with colour; in summer they offer cool shade; in winter the trail turns into a quiet snowy corridor. Szarcula has two tops — the higher one at 803 m and a slightly lower neighbour at 798 m — aligned from northwest to southeast. The ridge marks the boundary between the villages of Istebna and Wisła, and the watershed between the Vistula and Oder river basins runs right across it. Near the main summit you will find Dorkowa Skała ('Dorothy's Rock'), a crag popular with rock climbers, adding a sporty edge to this otherwise peaceful woodland walk.
How to reach the summitStanding on Szarcula's summit means standing on the border between two villages — Istebna and Wisła — each with its own distinct Beskid folk culture. Pause at Dorkowa Skała and appreciate that even a quiet forested ridge in the Silesian Beskids can hold a small surprise.