Wielka Rawka (1,304 m a.s.l.) is the highest peak of the border ridge in the Western Bieszczady and the most topographically prominent summit in the entire Western Bieszczady range. A vast alpine meadow crowning the ridge, steep flanks dropping hundreds of metres into surrounding valleys, and views stretching over 140 km make this one of the finest viewpoints in Polish Carpathians.
From the top you can see all the massifs of the Połoniny range, the border ridge, the Eastern Bieszczady, Połonina Równa, and the mountains of Slovakia including Vihorlat. The summit zone is covered by open subalpine grassland (połonina) whose lower boundary sits exceptionally high — between roughly 1,200 and 1,260 m — because the steep slopes were never used for cattle grazing. This means the forest gives way early and the views open up well before you reach the top. Outside summer, note that avalanches occasionally descend from the north-eastern slopes.
How to reach the summitWielka Rawka holds a remarkable record: the peak of Tempa (1,634 m) in Ukraine's Svydovets range, 141.6 km away, has been spotted from here — making it the most distant point of Ukraine ever observed from Polish soil. The slopes also shelter two rare plant species: bird cherry (Prunus mahaleb) and the Carpathian tocja.