While researching what to do in the Slovakian Tatras, I stumbled across this cool spot called Slovak Paradise. Located in Slovensky Raj National Park, this is a very unique outdoor obstacle course. With long, wooden ladders and metal catwalks attached to vertical cliffs, you can spend days hiking and climbing through gorges and up waterfalls.
It looked like the perfect place to take a break from hiking the Tatras.
Unfortunately, I could not find much information on the internet to help us plan our visit. Even so, we decided to give up one of our valuable Tatras days to explore this park.
So, with absolutely no plan, we just showed up and stumbled through Slovak Paradise. We made a bunch of mistakes and didn’t quite have the awesome experience we were hoping for, but we learned a lot along the way.
I am going to share with you what we learned so you can have a much better experience.
Numerous people have written in with trip reports, recommended trails, and updated information. At the end of this article, I recommend that you take a look at the comment section to read this valuable information, especially since a massive amount of brand new information was just added in August 2024. And if you have information that you would like to add, feel free to add your own comment at the end of this article. We really appreciate it! 🙂
Table of Contents
Slovak Paradise National Park
Slovak Paradise National Park also goes by the name Slovensky Raj National Park and Narodny park Slovensky raj. It is located just a few kilometers south of Poprad and it’s just a short drive away from the Tatras.
There are over 300 km of hiking trails here and 350 caves! The Dobšinská Ice Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located here.
The Hornad River and tributaries have carved away gorges and canyons in the park. These gorges are equipped with ladders, bridges, and platforms, which create the unique hiking experience you get here.
The trick to having the best experience is choosing which gorge you want to explore.
This park is a lot larger and the hiking trails are a lot longer than we expected. We visited Slovak Paradise in between big hiking days in the Tatras. Today was our “break,” and even though we cut our hike short, we still ended up hiking over 11 km (7 miles).
Best Things to Do in Slovak Paradise
Prielom Hornádu
This is one of the most popular hiking trails in Slovak Paradise. It’s also one of the longest.
This is the trail that we hiked. I chose it simply because it looked awesome on Google image searches. The metal platforms and wooden ladders looked like a blast.
But I was also surprised to learn how long it is. It wasn’t until we started hiking the trail that we learned what we were in for. It’s almost 18 km (11 miles) round trip with an estimated hiking time of 5.5 hours. Normally, that wouldn’t bother us. But we were desperately ready for an easy day, since we did two big hikes leading up to this (Koscielec in the Polish Tatras and Vel’ká Svišt’ovka in Slovakia) with plans to hike to the summit of Rysy tomorrow. Choosing one of the longest gorges in the park was one of our “mistakes.” We did figure out how to shorten the hike and I give the details of our experience later in this article.
Tomášovsky Viewpoint
Located along the Prielom Hornádu trail, this viewpoint offers awesome views over the park and out to the Tatras.
Kysel
This was my first choice for a hike in Slovak Paradise. However, a portion of the hike is a via ferrata, so you will either need proper gear or you will need to hire a guide.
We asked about hiring a guide at the main ticket booth. However, the ticket attendant only spoke Slovakian. Another hiker who spoke limited English translated for us and we were told that the earliest we could hire a guide was 7 pm the same day. 7 pm to start a long hike? I think something got lost in translation.
This was posted at the ticket booth…more information about the via ferrata. We did not call the number because we did not have SIM cards for our phone. You could try calling this number before your trip, or, if they only speak Slovakian, your hotel staff may be able to assist you.
For more information, check out this post about hiking the Kysel via ferrata.
Sucha Bela
In hindsight, this is the gorge I wish we hiked through, instead of Prielom Hornádu. It takes about 3.5 hours round trip and you get to climb long, skinny ladders along waterfalls. Looking at photos online, expect to get your feet wet!
Piecky
This beautiful gorge features the longest ladder in Slovak Paradise.
Dobšinská Ice Cave
This is one of the largest ice caves in the world. Unfortunately, we missed seeing this. Learn more here.
To get here, it is a 40-minute drive from the main entrance and parking area for Slovak Paradise.
Expedition Slovakia has an excellent list of the best hikes to do in Slovak Paradise if you want more information.
Our Experience Hiking Prielom Hornádu
We arrived at Slovak Paradise at 8 am. We parked, bought our entrance tickets, unsuccessfully tried to hire a guide to hike Kysel, and then picked out our second option from the large trail map near the entrance.
It’s a 1400 meter walk to get from the park entrance to the trailhead for Prielom Hornádu. Most of this walk is on a flat, asphalt and gravel road. When the road ends, keep following the blue trail through the woods.
The trail starts on the far side of this blue, metal bridge.
Most of the Prielom Hornádu trail is simply a singletrack trail through the forest. When we did this, the trails were very muddy and slippery. I don’t know if it’s normally this way, but Slovakia did receive a lot of rain prior to our visit.
Hiking along the Prielom Hornádu gorge is mostly a walk in the woods with the occasional obstacle. The obstacles are lots of fun and the metal catwalks over the river were our favorites. But these obstacles are few and far between. You have to be prepared to hike many kilometers in the woods with occasional obstacles.
After awhile, it gets repetitive and even a little boring, at least in our experience. And this is why I wish we picked a shorter gorge.
Fortunately, there are “bail out points” so you don’t have to hike the entire 18 km loop.
We took the bail out 1 hour into the hike, at Kláštorska Roklina. We chose the yellow trail, a shorter and steeper trail than the green trail. Both end at the Kláštorisko Lodge. At Kláštorisko, there are also the ruins of a 13th century monastery. From here, it was a long, monotonous, downhill hike (1.5 hours) towards the main entrance.
We ended up back on the asphalt road. We ate a late lunch at a restaurant called Ranc Podlesok. It had outdoor seating and a wonderful view of the Tatras. The pizza was pretty good and this was our first experience drinking Kofala, Slovakia’s version of Coca-Cola.
Planning Your Visit
Slovak Paradise is located near Poprad. The main entrance is located off of route 3227. On Google Maps, the main parking lot is labeled Parkovisko Hrabusice Podlesok. We paid €3 to park in 2018.
Driving Distances from Nearby Towns:
- Poprad: 16 km, 20 minutes
- Tatranska Lomnica: 36 km, 35 minutes
- Strbske Pleso: 51 km, 40 minutes
There is a ticket booth next to the parking lot. We paid a total of €4 for our family of four (€1.50 per adult and €.50 per child).
We also paid €5.50 for a map of the park.
Walk 100 meters into the park and you will see the large map of the park. Take a photo of it with you phone or camera in case you need to reference it later. There is also a restaurant and bathrooms here.
PRO TRAVEL TIP: The distances and times on the map legend are one-way estimates. You also have to factor in the time and distance it takes to walk to the start of the gorge. We thought we were doing a 3-hour hike. It wasn’t until we were at the trailhead that we learned it was double that length. It was a big, unpleasant surprise!
Tips to Have the Best Experience
Plan on spending most of the day here. Even the shorter gorges will take 3 to 4 hours of your time. If you also want to visit the ice cave, it takes 45 minutes to drive there from the main entrance into the park.
There is a chance your feet will get wet. For some gorges, it looks as if you hike through the water.
I read online that the gorges are one-way only. However, we saw a number of people doing this in the opposite direction.
Purchase a hiking map at the ticket booth. They are cheap and a nice resource to have if you change your plans mid-hike like we did. I took a photo of the main map before we started, but it didn’t offer enough detail to help us navigate through the park once we changed our plans.
We saw a lot of kids on the Prielom Hornádu trail. Young ones, too…maybe as young as 5 years old. The youngest kids needed a lot of assistance from their parents, but they were doing it. Some kids loved the obstacles and others seemed a little scared. If you are traveling with adventurous kids, this is a place that may be worth exploring.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at Villa Meribel in Tatranská Lomnica. This place is awesome! We had a two bedroom two bath apartment with a small kitchen and living area. Tatranská Lomnica is a great home base for hiking the Tatras. There are several restaurants and a grocery store in town. There is also a toboggan, a great place to take kids if you are traveling as a family.
Have you been to Slovak Paradise? We would love to hear about your experience and I am sure that our readers would love it too. Comment below about what you did and feel free to add any advice.
More Information for Your Trip to Slovakia
TATRAS: If you like hiking, consider spending a few days in the High Tatras. Learn how to hike to Koscielec from Zakopane, how to hike to the summit of Rysy (the tallest mountain in Poland), and whether you should visit the Tatras from Poland or Slovakia. If you have plans to also visit Slovakia, don’t miss our guide to the High Tatras in Slovakia.
BRATISLAVA: If you have plans to visit Bratislava, take a look at our article Best Things to Do in Bratislava.
POLAND: Learn about the best things to do in Krakow, how to spend 2 days in Warsaw, and the best things to do in Gdansk. Put this all together with our 10 Day Poland Itinerary.
MORE GREAT HIKES IN EUROPE: From thrilling trails in the Alps to easy walks along the coast, read our article 20 Best Hikes in Europe for some beautiful hiking trails to put on your travel wish list.
Read all of our articles about Slovakia in our Slovakia Travel Guide.
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Comments 37
Hello, hikers! (2024)
TIPS TO HAVE THE BEST EXPERIENCE IN SLOVAK PARADISE NP
You can visit the web site about Slovak paradise: http://www.npsr.sk/en
For the bus and train connections in Slovakia visit: http://www.cp.sk. It is very reliable.
There is an excellent online map of all hiking trails in Slovakia.
Visit: turistickamapa.sk.
Choose a trail and get the info about the time and the distance: right-click on your trailhead, right-click on the middle point (if there is one), right-click on your ending point. The red number on the right on the screen is the time of the hike and the distance + the elevation gain.
zacni trasu – trailhead, pridaj medzibod trasy – add a middle point, ukonci trasu – ending point, vypocitat – count, zmazat – cancel
!Of course, the numbers (distance and time) are always only one way and in your chosen direction!
All hiking trails in Slovak paradise NP have excellent trail markings (green, yellow, red, blue). If you don’t see a trail marker on trees for more than five minutes, it means you’ve wandered off your trail and you need to go back to find the marking. It’s impossible to get lost in a gorge itself, just as it’s impossible to get lost in a tunnel.
THREE MOST VISITED PLACES IN SLOVENSKY RAJ / SLOVAK PARADISE NATIONAL PARK ARE:
On the northern side of the park: Sucha Bela gorge route, Tomasovsky vyhlad viewpoint (insta place:) with the view of High Tatras on sunny days.
On the southern side of the park: ice cave Dobsinska ladova jaskyna
SUCHA BELA GORGE, the most visited gorge in Slovak paradise, very scenic with a couple of very narrow places. The trailhead is in Podlesok, just next to the parking areas and the Autocamping Podlesok-Hrabusice (if you camp there you can hike the Sucha Bela route directly on foot from the camping.)
+ Ticket booth on Podlesok: the ticket covers also accident insurance and mountain rescue.
(Sucha Bela route, adult person 4 Eur in 2024)
By bus:
It is easy to visit Sucha Bela gorge from Poprad by bus.
the bus stop ´Hrabusice, razc. Betlanovce´, then walk 1km to Podlesok and there is the trailhead of Sucha Bela gorge.
The gorge itself 2:10 hours (4km) on the green trail
It is a one-way trail as all the gorges in Slovak paradise!!!
Descent to Podlesok on the yellow trail + the red trail, together 1:30 h (5km) – a forest walk
“Traffic jams” in Sucha Bela gorge – in July and August on sunny days and especially during weekends from 10am to the 12am. It´s useful to start earlier or later.
Slovaks and Poles often make the same mistake – they start to hike all at the same time and then they complain about standing in a line to climb the first long ladder one hour and more.
TOMASOVSKY VYHLAD, iconic viewpoint. For many local people it is a lovely Sunday walk after the lunch.
On the map: ´Spisske Tomasovce´(village). Tomasovsky vyhlad is on the south from Spisske Tomasovce.
The starting point is accessible by car, train or bus from Spisske Tomasovce, the green trail to the viewpoint: 45 min walk one way.
or by car also as a lovely loop hike: trailhead on the free parking place Durkovec (on the map the word on the right from the word Tomasovsky vyhlad), total 2:15 hours (6,5km). Very nice in winter. If it´s too icy and slippery, you can just hike from Durkovec to the viewpoint and go back the same way as the loop hike includes a steep descent from the viewpoint to the river Hornad.
other combinations are possible, check the hiking app
ICE CAVE DOBSINSKA LADOVA JASKYNA
accessible by car and by bus
the bus stop to visit the cave ´Stratena, Dobsinska lad. jaskyna´
For detailed info about all the public caves in Slovakia also in English and in other languages visit: http://www.ssj.sk
!!Always check if the cave is open! The caves are closed on Mondays and from the end of the autumn to the early spring!!
You walk from the parking place 20-30 min uphill, buy a ticket and wait for your cave tour.
In the summer a guided tour begins every 10 min, one tour is in Slovak, the next one in Polish, like this all day. The QR code for other languages is accessible on the wall of the ticket office.
The cave has about 100 thousand tons of ice (the oldest layers are 2000 years old). You walk on metal walking trail on top of the ice, or in the ice tunnel. The tour takes 30 min and the temperature in the cave in the summer months is circa 5 Celsius – don´t forget to take warm clothes.
ABOUT ALL THE PUBLIC GORGES OF SLOVAK PARADISE:
Visit: http://www.slovenskyraj.eu/en/gorges. You can find there some basic info about the length of the gorges and of their waterfalls and about times.
You can visit the gorges:
SUCHA BELA gorge
KLASTORSKA ROKLINA gorge
MALY KYSEL gorge
VELKY KYSEL gorge
KYSEL FERRATA gorge
PIECKY gorge
VELKY SOKOL gorge
SOKOLIA DOLINA gorge
ZEJMARSKA ROKLINA gorge.
It is not allowed to use the gorges for descent. It is the matter of safety and also there are practical reasons: the ladders and the catwalks are very narrow, also some sections of the trails are very narrow in lush vegetation. People walk against ´the flow´ because they don´t respect the rule or they don´t know about it.
(´Prielom Hornadu´ is not classified as a gorge and it can be hiked in both directions. Hornad is the name of the river along which the route runs. It doesn´t have any vertical or semi-vertical ladders as they are not needed, given the terrain.)
The gorges of the Slovak paradise NP are open all year round except the Kysel Ferrata gorge, open only from 15 of June till 31 of October. For the winter season, snow spikes and hiking poles are sometimes necessary, they should be ready in your backpack. There can be sometimes more ice than snow. It´s hard to say in advance how the conditions are in the gorge as every gorge has its special climate.
In hot summer, the gorges have a nature air conditioning (thanks to the microclimate) very appreciated by hikers. There´s a lot of lush vertical vegetation on the rock walls on the sides. Except the noon, the gorges offer a lot of shade. Some sections of the gorges look very prehistoric and some look as a fairy tale pictures.
IS HIKING IN SLOVAK PARADISE DANGEROUS?
Active 12yo kids can do all the hikes (also younger do) in Slovak paradise. Every gorge has wooden horizontal ladders and metal and semi-vertical metal ladders. Gorges are not recommended for those with a fear of heights because of the ladders. An older lady became stuck on a vertical ladder last week, unable to ascend or descend. Mountain rescue was called to assist her in getting down. As a result, other hikers had to wait two hours for the ladder to be unblocked. As for people who don´t suffer from fear of heights but could be scared of f.e. the first ladder in Sucha Bela just because they are not used to climb such metal semi-vertical ladders, it should be mentioned that there is a metal rope stretched 1.2 meters above the semi-vertical ladders for hikers to hold onto. It helps a lot. Ladders with this semi-vertical incline can also be climbed on all fours. There’s no shame in that!
There is no place on the hiking trails of Slovak paradise where it is necessary to walk in the water – except the Kysel Ferrata gorge. The more water there is in a gorge, the more fun and tricky hiking becomes (and the waterfalls are more beautiful!). More stones are underwater, and you have to think more about finding your own way. You become more concentrated. After heavy rain, gorges usually close because of safety, until the water level drops. Why hikers have often wet shoes and socks? Because they are not skilled enough at walking on rocks, crossing tree trunks, and so on (clumsy). Or they have wet shoes because it is funny and refreshing to jump into water:). Actually, in summer season, some people prefer to hike just in sandals (with vibram sole!) to walk in the cold stream.
As you can see on the map, the hiking trails of Slovak paradise are a beautifull net and you can make your own combination. You just need to remember the names of the gorges not to plan your hike in the wrong way: Sucha Bela gorge, Klastorska roklina gorge, Maly Kysel gorge, Velky Kysel gorge, Kysel Ferrata gorge, Piecky gorge, Velky Sokol gorge, Sokolia dolina gorge and Zejmarska roklina gorge. If you can´t find them on the map, just zoom in :).
SUCHA BELA gorge – info above, the green trail uphill
KLASTORSKA ROKLINA gorge – the gorge itself: the green trail with the trailhead ´Klastorska rokl. ustie´
PIECKY gorge – the gorge itself: the yellow trail with the trailhead ´Pila – Piecky´ to ending point ´Piecky, vrch´, for descent: red trail + yellow trail
By car: parking in Piecky (small village)
By bus: bus stop ´Hrabusice, Pila´ (not many bus connections, more on weekdays)
SOKOLIA DOLINA gorge – the gorge itself is the yellow trail with the headtrail ´Sokolia dol., ustie´ and the ending point ´Sokolia dol., zaver´. Find your own combination how to continue.
Attention! The green trail Velky Sokol and the blue trail Maly Sokol are also gorges, you can’t use them for the descent after hiking Sokolia dolina gorge.
KYSEL – a little caotic, I can explain.
There are three gorges: Velky Kysel (Large Kysel) gorge: green trail, Maly Kysel (Small Kysel) gorge: blue trail and Kysel Ferrata gorge: green trail with !broken line!
Velky Kysel gorge and Maly Kysel gorge have the same headtrail. The ending point of Maly Kysel gorge is on the map next to the words ‘Piecky, vrch’. The ending point of Velky Kysel gorge is next to the words ´Biskupske Chyzky´.
Kysel ferrata gorge is 1,5km long and a ferrata set is mandatory. The trailhead is ´Kysel, ustie´ and the ending point is ´Obrovsky vdp., mostik´
For the ferrata set and other info:
https://www.npsr.sk/en/hiking/194/kysel-ferrata
ferratakysel.sk/how-to-rent
ZEJMARSKA ROKLINA
It is the only public gorge on the southern side of Slovak paradise.
The trailhead of the gorge itself is on the north-east from the village of Dedinky, it is called ´Zejmarska roklina, ustie´. The ending point is ´Geravy´.
The double gorge VELKY SOKOL gorge
By car: parking in ´Blajzloch, pila´, hike the red trail to reach the trailhead of the gorge itself, called ´Sokol, hor.´. Or park your car in ´Pila, Piecky´.
By bus: hiking from Podlesok (the bus stop ´Hrabusice, razc. Betlanovce´) on the green trail (quite long 3,5km, the first section is a small scenic gorge, the other half is an asphalt road in the forest) or – not many bus connections – get off on the bus stop ´Hrabusice, V.Sokol, ustie´ which is right next to the trailhead of the gorge itself.
Attention! Cash is necessary for the ticket. The ticket office is just a small wooden stand in the forest next to the road.
The Velky sokol gorge itself: the yellow trail with trailhead ´Sokol, hor.´ and the ending point on the top where the yellow trail meets the red trail. The yellow trail takes 2:30 hours. For the descent: the red trail, 2:40 hours. The loop is 16km long.
How to reach Slovak paradise from High Tatras: you don´t need a taxi:).
Find a train or bus connection from High Tatras to Poprad. There are many. And then a bus connection to Slovak paradise, not many but more on weekdays. Plan in advance, not in the morning of your hike.
If you are interested in visiting ice caves, there is one more close to Poprad, you can reach it by train + bus from Poprad. It is called ´Demanovska ladova jaskyna´ and it is situated in the National park Nizke Tatry (Low Tatras). Train from Poprad to Liptovsky Mikulas town and bus from Liptovsky Mikulas town to the bus stop ´Demanovska Dolina, Ladova jaskyna´. There is one more beautiful cave just next to the ice cave, called Demanovska jaskyna Slobody, it is just the next bus stop after 2 minutes, the bus stop is called ´Demanovska Dolina, Jaskyna Slobody´. You can read detailed info about both of them on http://www.ssj.sk, also in English. Don´t forget to check if the cave is open!
Enjoy your trip! Welcome to Slovak Paradise alias Wet socks National park!:)
Thank you, Julie, for you article. It is very usefull 🙂 we are planning to go to this park in August. We stay in Poprad. Could you tell, how to come to Slovakian Paradise: with train, bus or somthing? 🙂
Author
Great question and I am not sure about the answer. If you have your hotel or accommodation already booked in Poprad, you could ask the staff there how to get to the park and they would be more familiar with how the public transportation works in that area. A bus might go there but you may have better luck with a taxi. Cheers, Julie
Thank you for this lovely article. My husband and I are planing to hike in the Slovak paradase on the first week of June.
The wearher forcast says it will be rainy.
Is it possible/safe to walk in the gorges while raining?
Thank you
Author
That’s a great question. I can only speak for Prielom Hornadu, since that is the trail that we hiked, but I think it would be fine if it is rainy. We did it right after it rained and the trail was muddy and slippery in spots. Be prepared for mud and ideally hike in waterproof hiking shoes or boots (and expect them to get very muddy). Cheers, Julie
Thank you so much Julie:)
I loved hiking through the Slovak Paradise National Park. I found the Southern bits quite enjoyable (even if they’re less explored). My pro-travel tip was being warned about ticks when I visited by the locals – apparently can be quite serious (?) so decided to be cautious and bought a tick spray at the local pharmacy (they have quite a selection) before I set off.
Author
Hello Vin. Thanks for writing in to us! That’s a good tip about the ticks. Cheers, Julie