I visit this extraordinary place in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland whenever I am in the area. Here you can feel the spirit of the forest, wildness and lack of human interference.
There are fewer and fewer such places on the map, fortunately Góra Chełm is a reserve and human stupidity does not reach there.
Takich miejsc na mapie jest coraz mniej, na szczęście Góra Chełm to rezerwat i ludzka głupota tam nie sięga.
The "Góra Chełm" reserve was established in 1957 in the area of the Eagle's Nests Landscape Park. The elevation is 440 m high. Of course, this value is calculated from sea level, the elevation itself and the approach to the mountain are several dozen meters high and do not take more than 15-20 minutes of easy walking.
At the very top we can see a dozen or so limestone monadnocks of various sizes, in which we can find fossilized crustaceans, such as belemnites or sponges. I probably also found a fossilized tusk of some animal. I also found such a specimen in this area.
However, the most valuable thing on Góra Chełm is its unique fauna and flora. At the foot of the mountain grows a pine forest that is over a hundred years old, while the higher you go, the more deciduous trees appear. Góra Chełm is mostly covered with beech forest, some of which are over 200 years old.
In addition to the Sudeten beech, orchid beech, lowland beech, we can observe firs, spruces, maple trees and maples on the mountain. According to recent studies, there are over 220 species of plants on the mountain, and 25 of them are strictly protected.
Of course, the mountain is alive not only with plants but also with animals. We can find roe deer, wild boars, foxes and a rare bird - the tawny owl.
A stream flows from the mountain, the course of which runs through the village of Hutki Kanki. The water from Mount Chełm is perfectly filtered through the sand and limestone rocks, which is why at the water intake you can often see a queue of people with tanks, because the water is suitable for drinking directly from the stream.
In addition to this collection of dry information, the mountain has something that few people write about. It is magical, and the fallen trees make us travel back to the times when man did not interfere with nature so brutally. I recommend this place to every nature lover.
Of course, no matter how long you stay in this area, you can't do without sausages from the campfire 😉
