Polana na Stołach, Protected meadow in Western Tatras, Poland.
Polana na Stołach is a protected mountain meadow on the eastern slope of the Stoły massif in the Western Tatras, facing the Kościeliska Valley. It sits at around 1,300 meters and still has a few wooden structures left from its pastoral past.
The clearing was once part of Hala Stoły, a large grazing area where many shepherd huts stood and cattle were moved up each summer. When herding activity ended, the forest began taking back the open land.
Three wooden shepherd huts with low walls and wind-resistant roofs still stand on the clearing, showing how herders once lived and worked up here. The structures are listed in the national monument database and are among the few surviving examples of this type in the Western Tatras.
The meadow is reached by a marked blue trail from Kir through Dolina Kościeliska, which takes about one and a half hours of steady climbing. The path is easy to follow but the ascent is continuous, so good conditions and proper footwear matter.
Between 1955 and 2004, the open surface of the meadow shrank to less than half its former size as the forest returned after grazing ended. Old photographs of the area make this shift easy to see and give a clear picture of how fast the landscape changed.
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