Szrenica with kids - four mountain huts and the Kamienczyk Waterfall

How do you climb Szrenica with kids? We did a loop from Szklarska Poreba: up past the Pod Labskim Szczytem hut and the Three Piglets rocks, and down through Hala Szrenicka to the Kamienczyk Waterfall. It was 14.5 km, six hours and four mountain huts on the way. Szrenica is 1362 m high, and there is a mountain hut on its top that opened in 1922.

We climbed Szrenica with our daughters Agata, Justyna and Iwona at the beginning of August 2022. A year earlier we had climbed Sniezka, so this was our second peak in the Karkonosze (Giant Mountains) and more points for the PTTK Mountain Hiking Badge (GOT). We wrote down 21 points for the whole loop.

The plan on the map: four huts

At the map board by the trailhead we made our plan. Iwona, our youngest, already knew that first we take the green trail, then the yellow one, and at the top there are mountain huts waiting. On the map it looked like this:

• from Rozdroze pod Kamienczykiem on the green and then the yellow trail to the Pod Labskim Szczytem hut,
• on the green trail to the Three Piglets rocks,
• up Szrenica, to the hut at the top,
• down to the hut on Hala Szrenicka,
• on the red trail to the Kamienczyk Waterfall and the fourth and last hut,
• and back to the car.

Under the chairlift to the Pod Labskim Szczytem hut

At the start the kids looked into every hole under the tree roots, but nobody had left any treasure. The trail passes under the Szrenica chairlift. We couldn't see any chairs, so someone asked where the "little cars" were. The chairlift has been running since 1962 and in summer you can ride it up Szrenica, but we chose to walk.

The Pod Labskim Szczytem hut stands at 1168 m and is one of the oldest in the Karkonosze. Its history goes back to the 17th century, when there was a shepherds' hut here on the route from Silesia to Bohemia. On the way the girls sang a song about how "we walk again and again".

The Three Piglets and Szrenica in the clouds

Further on the trail goes above the forest, into the dwarf mountain pine. From far away we should have seen the hut on Szrenica, but it was hidden in the clouds. We took a photo at the granite rocks called Three Piglets (Trzy Swinki). A legend says they are three pigs that the mountain spirit Liczyrzepa turned into stone, because a greedy farmer wanted to use them to cheat his farmhand.

On Szrenica itself the clouds lifted a little. From the viewing deck next to the hut we could see the valley, and by the rocks with the stone Szrenica emblem we took our summit photo. The hardest job probably belonged to the people coming up the steep cobbled road from Hala Szrenicka. We were walking down it.

A break at Hala Szrenicka

At Hala Szrenicka we had a longer break. There is a playground next to the hut, so nobody was bored, and our youngest could finally eat her chocolate bar. When we asked her if walking in the mountains was hard, she answered "easy". And she added that it is better in the mountains than at home.

Kamienczyk Waterfall in helmets

At the end we walked down the red trail to the Kamienczyk Waterfall. It is 27 m high, has three cascades and is the highest waterfall in the Polish Karkonosze. You go into the gorge on metal stairs and walkways, and everyone gets a helmet, because stones can fall from the rock walls. We took a photo by the waterfall in our colourful helmets. Right next to it is the Kamienczyk hut, the fourth and last one of the day.

The whole loop took us six hours and 14.5 km. There was a lot of laughing in the car, which you can hear at the end of our video:

Fun fact: the hut on Szrenica

The hut on Szrenica opened in December 1922. Its first host was Franz Endler, who had run a hut on the Czech side of the border before. When he lost his licence there, he moved to the other side, to Szrenica.

More of our mountain trips

A year later we climbed Snieznik, where there was still snow at the end of April. Our first mountain test with the kids was Sleza in 2014.

Practical info

We checked this in November 2026.

• Route: Szklarska Poreba - Rozdroze pod Kamienczykiem - Pod Labskim Szczytem hut - Three Piglets - Szrenica (1362 m) - Hala Szrenicka - Kamienczyk Waterfall - Szklarska Poreba. For us: 14.5 km and 6 hours with breaks.
• Karkonosze National Park ticket: 11 PLN, reduced 5.50 PLN, children under 7 go in free. Families with the Polish Large Family Card (Karta Dużej Rodziny) also go in free.
• Kamienczyk Waterfall: separate ticket for the gorge (16 PLN, reduced 8 PLN, free for children under 7 and Large Family Card holders), helmet included. Dogs are not allowed in the gorge.
• Getting there from the car park: since 16 June 2026 the red and black trail from the car park in Szklarska Poreba to Rozdroze pod Kamienczykiem has been closed until further notice because of road works. There is a detour, including an easier one for families with small children. Check the town notice (in Polish) before you go.
• Szrenica chairlift: in summer a ride up both sections costs about 66-74 PLN for adults and 39-44 PLN for children aged 7 to 14. Younger children ride free. The chairlift ticket does not include the national park fee.
• Toilets and food: in each of the four huts on the route. Playground at the Hala Szrenicka hut.
• Not suitable for pushchairs: parts of the trail are rocky and there are stairs down to the waterfall.
• GOT badge: kids can collect points for the Popular GOT badge from the age of 7 (60 points needed).