Ojców National Park
Ojców National Park covers 2,145.62 hectares, 16 kilometres north of Kraków, and it is the smallest national park in Poland. Almost 700 caves are recorded in the park, and Łokietek Cave, the longest, runs 320 metres inside Chełmowa. Of the 28 bat species in Poland, 21 have been found here, 19 of them in hibernation.
The smallest national park in Poland
The park sits in the southern part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, in the Prądnik valley, 16 kilometres north of Kraków. Its area is 2,145.62 hectares. The homepage records almost 700 inventoried caves in the park and 757 in the whole Prądnik catchment, formed mainly in a rocky variety of Jurassic limestone. The longest cave in the park is Łokietek Cave, 320 metres, in the Chełmowa massif. Bats are the animal the park uses as its emblem. Of 28 bat species living in Poland, 21 have been recorded in the park, and 19 of those hibernate here. The homepage counts about 1,000 vascular plant species in 60 communities, and ranks that total third in Poland after the Tatras and the Pieniny.
Five marked sections inside the park
The trail list has five routes. The red Eagles Nests section inside the park is 13.6 kilometres, on a hardened and asphalt surface. It follows the floor of the Prądnik valley and enters the park from the south-east at Prądnik Korzkiewski. From the Kraków Gate to Grodzisko it shares the path with the blue trail. On that red line the park names a hermit hut in the Sukiennice rock, the Miłości spring, the St John spring, the villa Pod Koroną, the isolated Igła Deotymy rock and a plantation of Ojców birch beside it, the ruins of the Kazimierz castle in Ojców, the chapel Na Wodzie, Grodzisko with the church and the hermitage of Blessed Salomea on Długa rock, Hercules Club, and the castle at Pieskowa Skała. Between Ojców and Pieskowa Skała stand several mill buildings from the end of the 19th century. Outside the park the red trail continues toward Częstochowa.
The blue Jurassic Strongholds section inside the park is 9 kilometres, also hardened and asphalt. It comes in from the west, through the last stretch of Czajowice and the Ciasne Skałki gorge, and reaches the Kraków Gate, where the trail page notes a view of the Koronna massif. It then shares the red trail down the Prądnik valley through Ojców to Grodzisko and Skała. Bicycles are banned from the Kraków Gate up onto Chełmowa.
The black trail from Łokietek Cave to Pieskowa Skała is 9.2 kilometres inside the park. It starts at the cave. From the Czajowice stop the cave is about 300 metres. At the trail junction the blue trail reaches the Kraków Gate and then Ojców. The black trail passes the Jonaszówka rock, with a wide view of the village of Ojców and the castle ruins, then the castle hill, then Złota Góra. From there the green trail drops into the Sąspowska valley to meet the yellow trail, which splits toward Ojców or toward Pieskowa Skała. The black trail leaves the park through Wola Kalinowska, re-enters, crosses the provincial road, and runs by Młynnik, Słoneczna Góra, the forest edge at Herianówka and Wielmoża, down by the ponds to the castle at Pieskowa Skała, beside the villa Chopin.
The yellow Jurassic Valleys section is 9.5 kilometres inside the park, hardened and asphalt. It enters at Murownia, beside the Albertine Brothers care house, passes the Kraków Gate to the mouth of the Sąspówka, and follows the Sąspowska valley cut between Złota Góra and Chełmowa. The wooded slopes hold many caves. The valley floor is meadow. A side valley, the Jamki gorge, is a strict protection area, and the Harcerza spring rises in the meadows at its mouth. The trail then goes through Sąspów and Kalinów to Pieskowa Skała.
The green local trail, marked out in 1992, is 5.3 kilometres: Sąspowska valley, Złota Góra, the castle park, the villa Pod Koroną, Ciemna Cave, Okopy hill, and back to the Prądnik valley. From the trail junction it passes the castle park and the former hotels Pod Łokietkiem and Pod Kazimierzem, then a road to the Ciemna Cave till. A steep climb of about 400 metres reaches the cave. Above it the path follows the crest of Koronna, the Wapiennik rock and Okopy hill, where earth ramparts remain from a 13th-century stronghold of Konrad of Mazovia that no longer stands. The trail drops to the valley floor and returns to Ojców. Viewpoints run the length of it. On the way back, the mouth of Okopy Wielka Dolna cave is visible from the valley floor. A teaching path runs with the trail. Bicycles are banned from the Ciemna till, over Koronna and Okopy, down to the valley. The green, yellow, blue and black route pages are marked suitable for beginners. The red route page is not.
What the valley holds besides the paths
The sites the park treats as the main visit, apart from the trails, are the Kazimierz castle ruins, Łokietek Cave, the nature exhibition, Ciemna Cave, the Kraków Gate and the Prądnik Valley Heritage Centre. Pieskowa Skała castle stands at the north end of several of these trails. The park does not run that castle. Its visiting rules are on pieskowaskala.eu. Łokietek Cave is the long cave in Chełmowa. The nature exhibition is in the Education and Museum Centre at Ojców 13, the former Hotel pod Łokietkiem. The heritage centre is the villa Pod Koroną at Ojców 51, the same villa the red trail passes, with the Igła Deotymy rock and the Ojców birch planting beside it.
How to get there
Bus 310, Cracovia Stadion to Będkowice Pętla, runs on weekdays and holidays and stops at Szyce Wesoła, Biały Kościół, Murownia and Czajowice. Line LR0, Osiedle Podwawelskie to Ojców Zamek, runs on Saturdays and holidays when the weather allows, about every 60 minutes from 9:00 to 16:00 outside May–August.
FAQ
Which building can a wheelchair enter?
The Education and Museum Centre at Ojców 13 has no step at the door and a passenger lift to the ground and first floors. The attic offices are stairs only. An induction loop and an FM system are available if you ask ahead. There is no marked disabled bay; cars can use the car park behind the building or the paid car park by the castle ruins. The park directorate at Ojców 9 is reached by stairs and has no lift. Hotel pod Kazimierzem has a ramp to the ground floor that needs an assistant, and no lift. The heritage centre at Ojców 51 has an uneven stone and gravel approach steeper than 9 percent, a door narrower than 90 centimetres and a threshold higher than 3 centimetres. Its exhibitions are on the ground floor only. Assistance there is offered Wednesday to Friday if you email opn@opn.com.pl at least one day ahead. Assistance dogs may enter these buildings. The park says not every visitor site is accessible.
Which stop matches which trail?
From Szyce Wesoła it is about 1,250 metres to the Hamernia enclave and the red trail in the valley. Biały Kościół leads down to the same red trail. Murownia is the start of the yellow trail and of a cycle road into the park. Czajowice is 1.8 kilometres to the blue trail, and the black trail to Łokietek Cave leaves from that side. The cave itself is about 300 metres from the Czajowice stop. From Skała, provincial road 773 is about 2 kilometres and 25 minutes to Grodzisko, then about 2 kilometres to Ojców.
Who gets a reduced ticket, and can a group just turn up?
Reduced tickets, with a document, are for children over 3, school pupils and students to 26, one leader per 10 people in an organised group, pensioners, disabled visitors, families of national-park staff, State Forests staff, and holders of the Large Family Card. A group may visit the park only with an authorised guide, and one guide may take at most 50 people. The park does not supply guides. Groups of over 10 are told to hire an OPN-licensed guide themselves. Ciemna Cave groups over 10 reserve by phone on 12 380 10 11. The nature exhibition and the heritage centre reserve online, at least one day ahead. Łokietek Cave does not take reservations. Cash and cards are accepted, and the park asks you to carry cash because card and phone payments can fail, including at parking meters.
