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  • Manínska Tiesňava

    Manínska Tiesňava

    Since the Manínska tiesňava itself is very short and I didn’t feel like traveling from such a distance just for about 200 meters, we decided to take a circuit through the Partizánska cave and end at the Manínska tiesňava.

    We parked at the campsite below the Manínskov tiesňava, where the yellow tourist sign also starts. The campsite is great with a swimming pool, new kitchen and sanitary facilities, we plan to come back here next year and spend a few nights here:)

    View from switchbacks

    The sign after about a kilometer starts to climb quite steeply until it turns into switchbacks. Some of them offer a beautiful view of the Považský Castle and the valley in front of it. After climbing the switchbacks, we come to a resting place with a fireplace and prepared wood. However, we have nothing to grill, so we just quickly refresh ourselves and continue to the cave.

    Partizánska cave, at the end there is almost complete darkness

    Partizánska Cave is a freely accessible cave. It consists of a single passage, approximately 20 meters long. The cave itself is located on the rocky cliff of Veľký Manín and, despite the fact that it does not contain any karst decoration, it was very interesting for us. The last few meters to the cave lead along a rock with safety features. And Dávid loves that.

    View from the cave

    Apparently, just by the name, it will be clear to everyone what this cave was used for. It is a place where partisans hid during the SNP.

    From the cave we descend almost the whole time to the mouth of the Manínska tiesňava.

    Manínska tiesňava

    Just 100 years ago, the gorge had a completely different shape. Its rocks were not covered with vegetation, as they are today.

    The narrowest part was impassable for wagons, and the carters had to unload the load, disassemble the wagons and reassemble them after. This was the case until 1933, when part of the cliff was blasted away. At that time, a paved road was built across the gorge.

    One more cave

    After passing through the gorge, we turned to the cave under Černokňažník, which was smaller than the Partizánska cave, but we discovered a bat in it and the view was worth it.

    At the time of the hike, Dávid was just 6 years old.

    10.58km, 3h52min active time, 4h 25min total
  • Súľov castle

    Súľov castle

    Súľov Castle is located on a popular tourist route through the Súľov Rocks. Súľov Castle is built on a rocky cliff and offers beautiful views. The hike leads along an educational trail – it is an approximately 5km circuit with 17 stops.

    rock window

    The castle was built in the 13th century to protect a nearby road. It is also considered one of the most difficult castles to access in the area. The castle was built between three massive rock formations. The ruins still show how the foundations of the castle adapted to the terrain. The castle complex consisted of an upper and lower castle, with an estimated distance of 25 meters between the two parts of the castle, and a height difference of 14 meters from the level of the lower castle to the first floor of the upper castle. The height of the ruins is approximately 18 meters.

    to the castle

    The foundations of the buildings and traces of beams and anchors of the vault cut into the rock, as well as slight remains of walls with window openings, have been preserved from the constructions.

    In the lower castle, a part of the palace with an observation platform on its supporting rock is preserved, the entrance to the castle with an embrasure in the rock and a dug-out rock gorge before the entrance to the upper castle are also noticeable.

    In the upper castle, in the middle palace there is a vault and traces of a stone staircase, a rock pylon, which bears traces of a staircase and at which one enters the highest part of the castle with traces of a cistern and a lookout tower through a hole in the masonry and an iron ladder.

    path from the castle

    The path from the castle is quite slippery for the first few hundred meters and even though there are handrails, it is still quite an adrenaline rush. But we managed it without falling. At the time of the hike, David was just 6 years old.

    5,28km, 1h 58min active time, 2h 53min total