Miętusia Cave is one of the most extraordinary underground wonders of the Tatra Mountains — the fourth longest cave in Poland and the record holder for horizontal extent, stretching approximately 1,150 metres. Nearly 11 kilometres of explored passages, underground lakes, cascades, siphons and dramatic vertical shafts await those who dare to venture beneath the surface.
The cave is located in the Miętusia Valley in the Western Tatras. Its single entrance, a surprisingly modest opening of just 0.6 × 0.8 metres, is hidden at the foot of Dziurawy peak, between Wielka and Mała Świstówka, at an altitude of 1,273 metres above sea level. Behind that inconspicuous gap lies a vast labyrinth with a vertical range of 305 metres. The cave interior impresses with rich speleothem formations — stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and rare helictites near the Kaczanosia Shaft. The Gothic Lake and the Emerald Lake shimmer with extraordinary colours in the beam of a headlamp.
How to get thereA fascinating historical note: the cave was discovered by Władysław Gorycki in 1936, and exploration continues to this day — a water-tracing experiment in 1986 confirmed a hydrological connection between the cave's siphons and the Lodowe Spring, hinting at an even larger hidden water system beneath the Tatras.