Description
Five Polish Ponds Valley is a postglacial valley located in the Tatra National Park. The landscape of the valley consists of granite peaks of the High Tatras, large areas of boulders, screes, alpine meadows, alpine peat bogs and dwarf pine patches. The slopes of the mountains and the bottom of the valley are covered with dwarf pine shrubs and other alpine plants. There are several glacial lakes in the valley with a total area of 61 ha. The largest of them is the Great Polish Pond located at an altitude of 1665 m asl. The other lakes are: Zadni Staw Polski, Czarny Staw Polski, Mały Staw Polski, Przedni Staw Polski and Wole Oko. This area was included in the network of areas covered by the Ramsar Convention.
Several rare species of birds in Poland nest there, such as: Стінолаз, Синьошийка from the ssp. svecica, Чечітка мала, Тинівка альпійська, Щеврик гірський, Дрізд гірський, Плиска гірська and Пронурок біловолий. The valley area is also a refuge for interesting species of mammals: Brown bear, Tatra chamois, Alpine marmot and European snow vole.
Details
Access
Access by car or buses from Zakopane to Palenica Białczańska, where there is a large parking lot for cars. Motor vehicles and bicycles are forbidden to enter the valley. This area can be explored only on foot. Admission to the valley is paid. In the upper part of the valley there is the highest located tourist shelter in the polish side of Tatras.
