Sokolia dolina is one of the wildest gorges in the Slovak Paradise — a deep, winding canyon carved into the Glac plateau, where waterfalls thunder and metal ladders cling to sheer rock faces. If you are looking for a raw, adventurous hike that stays with you long after you leave, this is it.

The gorge has a dramatic character throughout the year. In spring, snowmelt fills the stream and the trail — which in places runs along the very bed of the Sokol brook — becomes a genuine challenge. Summer brings cool shade from towering limestone walls draped in moss and ferns, while autumn turns the canyon into a blaze of gold and rust. The entire area falls within the Kyseľ nature reserve, the largest reserve in Slovak Paradise National Park, protected at the highest fifth level of conservation — so the landscape here is as unspoiled as it gets.

• Tomášovska Belá (gorge entrance) — one-way marked trail leading to the junction with the green trail; difficulty: demanding

• The trail is one-directional — walk from the entrance at Tomášovska Belá to the green trail junction only.
• In high water or bad weather the trail time increases significantly and sections may be impassable.
• A head for heights is essential — metal ladders next to Závojový vodopád lead up a wall roughly 100 m high.
• The area is part of Kyseľ nature reserve (949.97 ha), under the highest (5th) level of nature protection in Slovakia.

The crown jewel of the gorge is Závojový vodopád — at 75 metres, the tallest waterfall in the entire Slovak Paradise — first traversed only in 1910 and made fully accessible via metal ladders installed between 1979 and 1981.