Stary Gierałtów – Nowy Gierałtów – Bielice – Sucha Pass (1,006 meters) – Dział Pass (922 meters) – Stary Gieratów

Route course:

We set off from the intersection in Stary Gierałtów. We ride along the Biała Lądecka River valley in the direction of Nowy Gierałtów. We take the right turn at the fork in the road, cross the river, and then bear left to the district road. We pass the church and the village buildings emerging here and there on both sides of the road. The route takes us along the beautiful valley with spruce and beech forests above, where we can enjoy the views of picturesque shoots and cascades (most of them artificially heaped).

The road leads us to the last village of the region – Bielice. We do not leave the district road, but pass the church and the houses, and come to the forester’s lodge at the farhest end of the village. As we move further, we notice that the condition of the road is far from perfect. At the fork in the road, we strike a rocky vista and begin to climb up the hill. We follow the Czarnobielska Road up the Bielawka Stream. We pass Szarogłaz (an amphibolite rock at the foot of Zawodzisko). Ravages made by the windfalls can be seen above the valley. We pass a forest road and follow Czarny Dukt (the Black Road). We need to make some more effort, as the incline becomes steeper. The maximum incline is yet ahead of us. As we come to the asphalt road, we bear right. Slowly we climb to reach the height of 1,000 meters, and after ca. 2 kilometers we reach the highest point of the route. We have come to Sucha Pass (1,006 meters), which is saddled between Sucha Kopa (1,062 meters) from the West and Orlik (1,068 meters) from the East. We can rest there to admire a beautiful view of Śnieżnik. On the pass, there is a rain shelter and a camping place. Good news for the exhausted – from now on the road goes only downwards.

We follow blue and red trail Blazes along the asphalt road. Having passed ca. 1.5 km we arrive at the Great Crossroads with five intersecting ways. We keep on following the asphalt road and the trails. After the intersection we pass Zawodzisko (995 meters) and a potable water resource on the right. At the fork in the road the red blazes bear right in the direction of Czernica (1,083 meters). We follow the blue blazes along the asphalt road, but don’t forget to admire the views of the Śnieżnik Massif. We get to the intersection on Dział Pass (922 meters) – a saddle between Gołogóra (977 meters) and Jawornik Kobyliczny (995 meters). On the pass we can find a shelter and a resting place. As we set off, we follow the blue blazes for a short time, but at the following fork the trail makes a left turn into the forest. We keep cycling the main road. The road is winding and it has got a lot of hairpin turns. Its gradient becomes steeper, therefore we need to be very careful on the bends, even though the traffic is very light. We pass numerous forks, but still we keep on riding the asphalt road. We come to the edge of the forest. We pass the forester’s lodge. We come to the district road. Crossing the bridge we reach the starting point, which is our place of destination.

Attractions:

Filial church of St. John the Baptist in Nowy Gierałtów. The church was erected in three stages of construction, and it’s a baroque sanctuary with the first chancel built in 1619. The church was renovated many times in the 18th and the 19th Centuries. The last renovation took place in 1987. Mural structure of the church was reinforced, its roof replaced with a new one, and also the ground leveling was carried out. Restoration of the interior has also been performed. The church has got one nave with a separate polygonal chancel and a withdrawn porch. Covered with a gable roof, the church has got a tower, upon which a dome with an opening was placed. The church is furnished with a Neo-Baroque, wooden altar dating from the 20th Century, a renaissance, wooden pulpit from the 17th Century, reconstructed in the 20th Century, a stone baptismal font from the first half of the 19th Century with a wooden deck from the second half of the 18th Century, baroque, wooden, polychromic sculptures and oil paintings from the 18th Century. The church is surrounded with a stone wall from the 18th/19th Century with an entrance gate. Near the gate we can visit St. John’s Chapel, an oratory in the shape of a house dating back to the early 19th Century.

Filial Church of St. Wincenty and St. Walenty in Bielice with a characteristic traditional, rigid style of the late Baroque. It’s a brick construction with halls and a polygonal, closed chancel, adjoining vestry and the square tower with a pyramidal dome situated on the extension of the church axis. The church had no wealthy founder, therefore the inhabitants of the village had to cover the construction costs themselves. First renovation took place around 1939. In 1945 – 1986 the church was closed, and was gradually falling into ruin. Stefan Witczak, a local priest, made endeavors to have overall renovation and partial renovation works carried out. The church was then reconciled. The only remnant of the old furnishings is the altar platform. At the church there is a stone figure representing the Crucifixion from the 19th Century.

Partly abandoned villages in the upper part of the Biała Lądecka River valley used to consist in a large, inhabited area. Stary Gierałtów is one of the oldest settlements – the first accounts of the village date back to 1346. Nowy Gierałtów and Bielice were founded later – in 1631 and 1606 respectively. Villagers were largely occupied with farming, industry (chiefly the forest industry) and craft. However, with time the period of prosperity began for the villages which became popular resorts. The foundation of a spa in the nearby town of Lądek Zdrój and widely growing tourism resulted in development of a grid of tourist trails in the Bialskie Mountains and the Śnieżnik Massif. The development of roads was possible due to efforts of Marion of Orange, Princess of the Netherlands, who owned a large part of the land of Kłodzko in the 19th Century. New hostels and inns were built that provided services to the tourists both in winter and in summer. After the war, people began to abandon the villages which gradually began to decline. The buildings deteriorated and collapsed, and in the nearby forests we still can find numerous remnants and ruins of the households. Nowadays, the development of villages began again, and some of them have become resorts.

The beautiful valley is considered to be one of the most interesting and wildest parts of the Sudety. The river itself counts as one of the cleanest water-courses and is a natural habitat of brown trout and European grayling. We can also behold numerous water birds species and deer. The entire territory belongs to Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on Śnieżnik, and the Snowy Forest of Białka Reserve, which is the last relic of old Sudety Forest, was established south of Bielice.