The Karkonosze National Park is one of the largest and most beautiful national parks in Poland. It has impressive mountains and dense forests, as well as hundreds of kilometers of hiking and cycling routes. Visiting this place is a real pleasure because it is perfect for both pleasant leisure and healthy outdoor activities.
The National Park is located in the South-West of Poland in the Karkonosze mountains, where the border with the Czech Republic passes and the foreign part of the park begins. At the end of the last century, the Polish and Czech National Parks were declared a single biosphere reserve, even though they are located on the territory of different countries.
The Karkonosze National Park has rare and spectacular mountain cliffs with the pits of the Ice Age. But this is not the only feature of the park. On the one hand, its territory is full of mountains, rocks, and stone paths. On the other hand, swampy areas suddenly appear between them. Such an amazing neighborhood is very rare in nature. Another feature is the unusual hollows formed on the site of mountain glaciers and filled with a large number of lakes. The most impressive of them are the Big and Small Ponds, called Velký Stav and Malý Stav.
The Big Pond is located at the foot of the Smogornia peak. It has an impressive size of 8.32 hectares, and its depth reaches 24.4 meters. This is the largest glacial lake in the park, which was formed at the bottom of a 200-meter pit.
It’s a real deal for tourists traveling through the park to get to Velký Stav, sit on the green lawn, and enjoy the view of the blue surface of the water. The surrounding landscape is beautiful at any time of the year and resembles the famous Alpine meadows. However, even these peaceful landscapes can't compare to the beauty of Malý Stav.
The nearby Small Pond rightfully got the status of one of the most beautiful places in the Karkonosze National Park. If Velký Stav is great for making a small halt, then Malý Stav makes your want to spend much more time there, at least – to watch the sunset and meet the dawn on its shore.