Snieznik with kids - from Miedzygorze to the elephant and the viewing tower

How do you climb Snieznik with kids? We took the red trail from Miedzygorze: past the PTTK Na Snieznik hut to the top, then to the stone elephant on the Czech side, and back the same way. It was 14.6 km with about 715 m of climbing. Snieznik is 1425 m high, the highest peak of the Snieznik Massif, and since 2022 there has been a viewing tower on its top again.

We climbed Snieznik with our daughters Agata, Justyna and Iwona on the last weekend of April 2023. We were collecting points for the PTTK Mountain Hiking Badge (GOT), and Snieznik is also one of the Crown of Polish Mountains. Before that we had been in the Karkonosze: on Sniezka and on Szrenica.

On the red trail from Miedzygorze

In the morning the sun came out at the car park in Miedzygorze, so we set off in a good mood. First a forest track with stones, then more and more roots and rocks. During breaks the girls introduced themselves to the camera, and from one clearing they showed us where we were heading.

On the way there is a viewpoint on the rocks. Each of the girls had to stand on the rock and pose with the forested hills behind her. It is one of the nicest places on the route and a good excuse for a rest.

The PTTK Na Snieznik mountain hut

The hut stands on Hala pod Snieznikiem, at about 1218 m, just before the last climb to the top. It is an old Swiss-style hut built in 1871 for Princess Marianne of the Netherlands. So you sort of reach the top twice: first the hut, then the summit. In the hut we got stamps for our GOT badge books.

Snow and ice at the end of April

Above the hut the trail comes out onto an open meadow. Lower down spring had already started, but here there were still patches of snow and parts of icy path. "Who would have thought we'd still be walking on ice" was probably the most repeated sentence of the day. The kids loved it, and we made sure nobody ended up with wet socks.

The viewing tower on Snieznik

On the top there is a new silver viewing tower, opened in September 2022. It is about 34 m high with about 200 steps, and it is free to climb. For over 70 years an old stone tower from the end of the 19th century stood in the same place. It was in bad condition and was blown up in 1973. From the top you can see the mountains on both the Polish and Czech sides, although that day some of the views were hidden by clouds.

The elephant on Snieznik, on the Czech side

From the top we walked a little way down to the Czech side, to the stone elephant. It stands on a stone base next to the place where a Czech mountain hut once stood. Today only the foundations and a pile of stones are left. The kids couldn't believe a big house had stood here, and they asked straight away: "but why did they take it down?".

Then we went back to the summit, so that day we reached Snieznik twice. At the hut we could choose between three trails down: blue, green or red. The vote was quick and the red one won, the same one we had come up. Why? "Just because". The last part goes along a stream all the way to the car park.

The girls said the best parts were running downhill and the snow. You can see the whole walk, with the tower, the elephant and the vote at the hut, in our video:

Fun fact: why is there an elephant on Snieznik?

The stone elephant was put up in 1932 by members of the Jescher art group to mark the group's 10th anniversary. They were friends with the man who ran the mountain hut that stood on the Czech side of the summit at that time. The hut was built in 1912 and taken down in the early 1970s, but the elephant survived and today it is one of the symbols of Snieznik.

More of our trips nearby

We know Miedzygorze from our trip to the Balkans in 2017, when we stopped at the Fairy Tales Garden. Our first mountain test with the kids was Sleza in 2014.

Practical info

We checked this in November 2026.

• Route: Miedzygorze Gorne - PTTK Na Snieznik hut - Snieznik (1425 m) - the elephant - Snieznik - hut - Miedzygorze Gorne, on the red trail. For us: 14.6 km and about 715 m of climbing.
• GOT badge: we wrote down 19 points for this route. Kids can collect points for the Popular GOT badge from the age of 7 (60 points needed). Children aged 5 to 10 can collect points for the "W gory" (To the Mountains) badge. You can get stamps at the hut.
• Viewing tower: free, open all year. The nearest toilet is in the hut.
• Snow: patches of snow on the summit are possible until May. At the end of April we were glad to have ankle boots and spare socks.
• Nature reserve: the summit is in the Snieznik Klodzki nature reserve. You must stay on the trail and dogs are not allowed.
• Not suitable for pushchairs: the trail is rocky with lots of roots.
• The summit is often windy and foggy, even when the sun is shining in the valley. Take a jacket and a hat.