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Poland

Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Oświęcim

gmina Porąbka

Mount Żar - Upper Station – Porąbka Dam loop from Porąbka

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Poland

Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Oświęcim

gmina Porąbka

Mount Żar - Upper Station – Porąbka Dam loop from Porąbka

Moderate

5.0

(11)

161

hikers

Mount Żar - Upper Station – Porąbka Dam loop from Porąbka

03:57

11.5km

550m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: April 15, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Park Krajobrazowy Beskidu Małego

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

4.47 km

View of the Porąbka-Żar Pumped-Storage Power Plant from Kiczera

Highlight • Viewpoint

The Kiczora peak is covered with forest, but the slopes below the peak are treeless. In the past, these were shepherds' pastures and meadows. Currently, due to economic unprofitability, they are no longer used for agriculture and are gradually overgrowing with forest, but there are still extensive panoramas. From the clearing on the northern side of the peak, there is a panorama of views covering the Wielka Puszcza valley, the Bukowski Groń ridge rising above it, Złota Góra, Przełęcz Targanicka and Wielka Bukowa. Above them and to the right are visible: Jawornica, Łamana Skała, Potrójna, Leskowiec. In the back, a view of the Silesian Foothills with the towns of Kęty and Andrychów. The view from the clearing on the western slopes is even more extensive. In the foreground, you can see the large water reservoir of the Porąbka-Żar pumped-storage power plant, behind it the peaks of the Beskid Mały mountain range rising on the western side of the Soła River, on their left the Beskid Śląski mountain range and the Beskid Żywiecki mountain range, and below them Lake Żywieckie, Lake Czanieckie and Kęty

Translated by Google •

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4.48 km

Kiczera Summit Shelter (827 m) – Beskid Mały

Highlight • Mountain Hut

Kiczera (827 m) - a peak in the Little Beskids. It is located in the Kocierz Group, in the ridge which, through Żar (761 m), descends to the Międzybrodzkie Lake. The southern slopes of this ridge descend to the valley of the Isepnica stream, the northern slopes to the valley of the Wielka Puszcza stream, and the south-eastern slopes to the Isepnicka Pass (698 m) separating Kiczera from Cisowa Grapa (810 m) [1].

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiczera_(Beskid_Mały)

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4.54 km

View of Góra Żar from Kiczera

Highlight • Viewpoint

Access via the red trail from Żar Mountain. A bit above, at the top of the mountain, there is a tourist shelter.

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6.62 km

Porąbka-Żar power plant reservoir

Highlight • Structure

The storage tank of the pumped-storage power plant.

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6.66 km

Mount Żar - Upper Station

Highlight • Viewpoint

6.74 km

Góra Żar (765 m) – Peak in the Beskid Mały

Highlight • Summit

The Tsar is a mountain in Poland. With a height of 761 m, it is one of the higher mountains in the Lesser Beskids. The mountain is a popular tourist destination with many views of the neighboring mountains and the lowlands.

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6.81 km

View from Mount Żar

Highlight • Viewpoint

Beautiful views of the dam and the entire lake.

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10.3 km

Porąbka Dam

Highlight • Monument

The dam in Porąbka, on the Sola River, looks both impressive and elegant. In the interwar period, when it was created, it was considered the pinnacle of technological advancement. The future president of the Republic of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz, worked on the design of the dam. It was built with enormous effort to prevent catastrophic floods in the Soła Valley. After World War II, a small hydroelectric power plant was built at the dam.
Works were supposed to start in 1914, but World War I thwarted these plans.
The subject of construction returned immediately after its completion. The dam design was consulted with Gabriel Narutowicz, the creator of the dam on the Aar River in Mühlenberg, Switzerland. The narrowing between the Żaru and Zasolnica massifs was chosen as the site of the Soła dam. Construction began in 1921. However, due to scarce funds, it was repeatedly discontinued. Soła was also not idle and was destroying the effects of human efforts. The work started again from the hoof in 1934. The project was supervised by an outstanding specialist - engineer Jerzy Skrzyński. The company Frankopol was building. For the purposes of the investment, a small power plant was opened nearby. The latest technological achievements were used - e.g. waterproof cement from Goleszów. 2,500 workers and several hundred juniors passed through the construction site. The dam is 260 m long and 37.4 high; throughput - 1690 cubic meters. The capacity of the Międzybrodzkie Lake was calculated at 32.2 million cubic meters. The cost of the project was over PLN 20 million at that time! The construction site was visited by President Ignacy Mościcki himself. The opening ceremony in December 1936 was attended, among others, by Deputy Prime Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski and Cardinal Adam Sapieha. In the 1950s, a hydroelectric power plant was commissioned at the dam. Currently, it has a capacity of 12.6 MW.
zabytkitechniki.pl/culturalheritage/3129/zapora-w-porabce
porabka.net/budowa-zapory.html

Translated by Google •

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11.5 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

4.38 km

3.04 km

2.08 km

1.45 km

491 m

Surfaces

3.48 km

3.09 km

2.66 km

1.43 km

780 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (800 m)

Lowest point (300 m)

Weather

Thursday 9 July

19°C

10°C

50 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 14.0 km/h

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Mount Żar - Upper Station – Porąbka Dam loop from Porąbka

View of the Porąbka-Żar Pumped-Storage Power Plant from Kiczera

Kiczera Summit Shelter (827 m) – Beskid Mały

View of Góra Żar from Kiczera

Porąbka-Żar power plant reservoir

Mount Żar - Upper Station

Góra Żar (765 m) – Peak in the Beskid Mały

View from Mount Żar

Porąbka Dam

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