PTTK Leskowiec Mountain Hostel
34-206 Krzeszów
Tourist region: Beskid Mały i Makowski
tel. +48 606743880
The initiative to build a mountain hostel was put forward by activists of the Wadowice branch of the Polish Tatra Society as soon as the Society was founded, and the construction was completed in just 4 months in 1932. It was a modest, even simple wooden house, and was the first hostel in this part of the Beskid Mały. Due to high occupancy, a dining room was added in 1934 and the kitchen was enlarged. During World War II, the site was taken over by the Beskiden-Verein, and the welcoming of tourists ceased. However, the hostel was cared for at the time by Jan Targosz, who prevented it from being burned down as part of the Germans’ ‘scorched earth’ policy as they retreated westwards late in the war. After the war, the chalet returned to the hands of the Polish Tatra Society and later the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society. Subsequent extensions to the building took place in the 1950s and the second half of the 1990s, and a general reconstruction and increase in volume took place between 2000 and 2002. In 2012, solar panels were installed on the roof and outbuildings and a sewage treatment plant were built. And why is there confusion about the name? Before World War I, when Austrian surveyors and cartographers drew maps of the area, misidentified the neighbouring twin peak of the Beskid Mountains as Mt Leskowiec, when in fact, at that time, the ‘real Mt Leskowiec’ was called Mt Jaworzyna. The years passed, and the mistake somehow ended up becoming established fact, although even today, there are people in the area who still use the correct names... The current name of the peak was informally given in 1981 on the initiative of activists from the Wadowice branch of the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK) and was made official on 1 January 2004.
The hostel offers its guests 32 beds in rooms for 3 to 9 people, with full board prepared by the house. Camping outings, winter holidays and New Year's Eve parties are organised here. An additional advantage is the nearby ski trails and ski lift (Groń Jana Pawła II and Mt Leskowiec are some of the most attractive ski peaks in the Beskid Mały).
Trails leading to the shelter:
red:
- Kocierska Pass – Potrójna – Łamana Skała – Leskowiec – Mountain Hostel
- Krzeszów Górny – Harańczykowa Góra – Mountain Hostel
yellow:
- Krzeszów Dąb – Targoszów – Leskowiec – Mountain Hostel
- Czartak – Żar – Krolewizna – Mountain Hostel
blue:
- Tarnawa Gorna – Makowska Góra – Mountain Hostel
- Wadowice – Ponikiew – Groń Jana Pawła II – Mountain Hostel
- Kocoń Przydawki – Łamana Skała – a red trail to the Mountain Hostel
black:
- Rzyki Jagódki – Mountain Hostel
- Śleszowice – Zamczysko – a blue trail to the Mountain Hostel
green:
- Andrychów – Wapiennica – Gancarz – Groń Jana Pawła II – Mountain Hostel
- Dachshund – Royal House – Mountain Hostel
- Krzeszów Dąb – Targoszów – Suwory Glade – a red trail to the Mountain Hostel
- ‘Trail of Silence and Reflection’ nature trail
- Zawoja Zakamień – Stryszawa Kotliki – Krzeszów – Targoszów – Groń Jana Pawła II