The Valley of Five Polish Lakes is one of the most breathtaking corners of the entire Tatra Mountains — a wild, glacially carved hanging valley dotted with shimmering alpine lakes, granite peaks and vast boulder fields. Nestled at 1,625–1,900 m above sea level and covering 5.5 km², it rewards every hiker who makes the effort to reach it with a sense of true mountain solitude.

The landscape is defined by six glacial lakes — the largest, Wielki Staw Polski, plunges to a depth of 79 metres — surrounded by soaring granite ridges, scree slopes and swathes of dwarf pine. In summer the valley glows with alpine meadow green, while autumn turns it golden and winter transforms it into a serene white wilderness popular with ski tourers. The feeling of raw, untamed remoteness that the Polish writer Seweryn Goszczyński described back in 1832 is very much alive here today.

How to get there

• Palenica Białczańska (car park) — green trail via Roztoka Valley, approx. 2 h 05 min, moderate
• Roztoka shelter — green trail to Wielki Staw, approx. 2 h 20 min, moderate
• Morskie Oko — blue trail via Świstówka Roztocka, approx. 2 h, moderate
• Morskie Oko — yellow trail via Szpiglasowa Pass, approx. 3 h 25 min, demanding

Practical information

• The valley lies entirely within Tatra National Park — park regulations apply, including staying on marked trails.
• The PTTK Leopold Świerz mountain hut above Przedni Staw is the highest-situated refuge in the Polish Tatras (approx. 1,670 m).
• The valley is open in winter, but the approach from Roztoka Valley can be hazardous in severe weather conditions.

On the north-western shore of Wielki Staw stands a stone shepherd's shelter dating back to the 17th century — the oldest surviving structure of its kind in the Tatras and a quiet reminder of the highland shepherds who grazed their flocks here for generations.