Region: Pieniny Mountains

Pieniny Mountains – a mountain range located in southern Poland and northern Slovakia. In the south, the Pieniny Mountains border on the Spišská Magura range, in the north with the Gorce Mountains and Sącz Beskid Mountains, and in the west with the Orawa-Nowy Targ Valley and the Spiš-Gubałowskie Foothills. They are divided into three parts: Pieniny Spiskie, Pieniny Proper and Małe Pieniny. The highest peaks are Wysoka (1050 m), Jaworzyna (1016 m), Smerekowa (1014 m).

The rocks that make up the Pieniny Mountains were formed at the bottom of the seas in several geological eras. In the Upper Cretaceous they were folded and uplifted. At the beginning of the Tertiary, there was a second wave of tectonic movements causing further shifts of the nappes. The third wave of orogenic movements in the Paleogene and Neogene periods resulted in the formation of a very complicated tectonic structure of the rock belt. At the same time, the erosion that took place at the same time removed the outer mantle of rocks and created a complex relief. The peaks and crags are made of weathering-resistant Jurassic rocks, mainly hornstone, bulbous and crinoid limestones. The valleys and passes were formed in soft and weathering rocks from the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods.

The landscape of the Pieniny Mountains is made up of soaring peaks and deeply cut gorges divided by vast shepherd’s pastures.

Hikes in the Pieniny Mountains: