Sąspowska Valley
Nearby: Krakówdirections_bike Bike route
beach_access Route in the shade
wb_sunny Route in the sun
restaurant Restaurant or bar nearby
directions_car Access by car
Sąspowska Valley is one of the less-known places in Ojców National Park. It is visited mostly by tourists who already know its quiet charm. The Sąspówka stream flows here and joins the Prądnik River. Unlike the busy asphalt road in Ojców, this valley offers more silence, forest shade, and close contact with nature. You can also see unusual structures built by beavers.
How to get to Sąspowska Valley
Unlike the often full car park in Ojców, especially on weekends, the small village of Sąspów usually has places to leave your car: by the roadside, near the church, near the school, or near the shop. A good option is also to walk down to Sąspówka Valley on the green trail from the car park on Złota Góra (this car park is much less crowded than the one in Ojców). You can also enter the valley from Prądnik Valley, near the restaurant by the fish pond.
Sąspowska Valley - yellow trail
The yellow trail follows the Sąspówka stream. If you start from Sąspów, you pass the last houses and reach the border of Ojców National Park. Then you pass the beautiful, tall wooden villa called "Koziarnia" - the Seismological Observatory of the Polish Academy of Sciences - and soon enter the forest.
If you start from the car park on Złota Góra, the green trail will take you down to Sąspówka Valley in about 15-20 minutes. At the crossing of the green and yellow trails, there is a covered shelter with benches. From here, go downstream along the stream (if you came down on the green trail, turn left). Soon you will reach a wooden footbridge crossing wet meadows.
Sąspówka Valley - beaver area
One of the main attractions of Sąspówka Valley is the chance to see signs of beaver activity. Thanks to the beavers, there are dams on the Sąspówka stream and beautiful flooded areas.
You can learn more about beavers and their habits from the information board near the next shelter, just after the small bridge.
At one point, the stream seems to disappear. Most of the water goes through an iron grate. This is a side canal built about 100 years ago. It carries water from the Sąspówka stream, which is cleaner than the Prądnik River, to the fish ponds.
Rocks and caves in Sąspówka Valley?
Prądnik Valley is famous for its beautiful limestone rocks and many caves. Can you find them in Sąspówka Valley too? Yes and no. There are caves and rocks here, but the caves are in Jamki Gorge, a strict nature protection area closed to tourists. Most of the rocks are hidden among trees. They are much easier to see when the leaves have fallen:
Graves in Sąspówka Valley
Just before you reach Prądnik Valley, on the left side of the path, there are 3 graves: two partisan graves and one Jewish grave. Small, unmarked, lightly used paths lead to them from the main path.
Sąspowska Valley with a stroller?
The road through Sąspowska Valley is passable for bicycles, and it is possible to walk here with a baby stroller. However, it is not as comfortable as the asphalt road in Ojców. The hardest part is between the shelter and the small bridge. The path is narrow here, and when the water level is high or after rain, there can be a lot of mud.
The green trail from the car park on Złota Góra is definitely not suitable for a stroller. If you want to walk in Sąspówka Valley with a stroller, it is best to enter from the Ojców side, go as far as it is comfortable and possible in the current conditions, and then turn back.
From Sąspówka Valley to Ojców
After about 1-1.5 hours of walking, you will reach the middle of Prądnik Valley - right by the ponds, trout fishing areas, and restaurants. It is worth climbing to the Jonaszówka viewpoint above the ponds, close to the place where the yellow trail from Sąspów reaches Prądnik Valley.
If you continue north through Prądnik Valley, you will reach, among other places, the Nature Exhibition of Ojców National Park, the ruins of King Casimir's Castle and the Chapel on the Water. If you go right, to the south, you will reach Ciemna Cave, Kraków Gate, and the Spring of Love. Going right, you can choose one of two parallel paths: the left-bank path, which is asphalt and very sunny, or the shaded dirt path on the right bank of the stream, which is quite wide.
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