Wołoszyn is one of the wildest and most unspoiled ridges in the High Tatras — a mighty wall separating the Waksmundzka Valley from the Roztoka Valley, carved by avalanche gullies, rocky formations and home to brown bears. If you are looking for the Tatras at their most raw and elemental, this is the place.
The ridge stretches from the Krzyżne Pass area all the way to the Mickiewicz Waterfalls and features several summits, with Wielki Wołoszyn (2151 m) being the highest point. The slopes seen from the Roztoka Valley are dramatic: split by deep gullies and punctuated by rock formations called 'Szczoty', reaching up to 700 m in height. Swiss pine forest covers the slopes up to about 1600 m, giving way to dwarf mountain pine above. In winter the massif looks raw and forbidding — all slopes carry a serious avalanche risk. In summer, the views from the top are said to be even more rewarding than from the nearby Krzyżne Pass.
How to reach the summitAt 2020 m above sea level, Wołoszyn hosts the highest-growing Swiss pine in the Polish Tatras. According to local legend, the mountain grew up on the spot where a giant dragon named Wołoszyn met its end — perhaps an echo of an ancient Slavic cult of Veles.