Approximate driving time with sightseeingThis challenging MTB trail passes in the vicinity of Daleszyce through the Orłowińskie and Cisowskie Ranges, and includes a number of hills to climb that vary at around 300-400 m above sea level. Going almost entirely through forested areas, you’ll also come across a number of interesting historical attractions along the way. The trail is used for the MTB Cross Marathon which starts and ends in Daleszyce.
Niwy (0.0 km) → asphalt road near Wysokówki (12.2 km) → Orłowiny (20.1 km) → Wojteczki shelter (23.7 km) → Widełki (28.3 km) → monument (34.6 km) → Niwy (38.3 km)
- 38.3 km
- 5-6 hours
- MTB
- 847 m
- 85% unpaved roads
- 12% gravel roads
- 3% asphalt roads
- Difficult
Getting there and starting out
You can park your car by the village community centre in Niwy, which is also where we would suggest starting the route from.
Technical description
After setting out from Niwy, you will soon enter the forests of the Cisowsko-Orłowiński Landscape Park, with the initially gentle ascent gradually becoming more demanding. After crossing the bridge over the lake, you will get to the first elevation points: Skałka (338 m above sea level), Hucisko (347 m above sea level) and Wysokówka (412 m above sea level). These are followed by a steep descent to an asphalt road. The elevation you have just lost will soon be recovered when you climb up the next hill. Go around Słowiec and Perlikowa hills to reach a gravel road, which will take you to the site of the former village of Orłowiny. Next comes another steep ascent, this time to Kiełki (452 m above sea level). For the return section of the route, you should follow the signs for a blue hiking trail. You’ll get to a shelter, where you can take a short break, and after that is a cross commemorating the inhabitants of a village that no longer exists – Wojteczki. The next ascent will take you to Zamczysko. There are loose stones here which will make the ride difficult, but once you reach the top, you’ll find an observation point with a cross. The descent from here is steep and difficult. After passing an asphalt road, start on another hard ascent, this time to Cisów Nature Reserve. You have now reached the Cisowskie Range. From Góra Stołowa (423 m above sea level), the route is a steep downward path. When you get to the intersection with a gravel road, take a moment to look at the monument marking the site where the January insurgents from 1863, and also the Home Army partisans during World War Two, had their camp. A little further along, you will pass a stone run, and then it’s a short distance back to where you started.
Attractions along the way:
Monument to the inhabitants of the village of Orłowiny
Orłowiny was originally a mining settlement as lead ore used to be extracted in the region. Before the Second World War, the village had around 30 homesteads, but it was razed to the ground by the Germans in 1944, with the inhabitants then resettled in 1945. All that remains now are just a few houses and a high wooden cross with a plaque commemorating the former residents.
Cross commemorating the village of Wojteczki
The origins of the village were connected with the construction of the local glassworks. During the Second World War, the inhabitants were resettled in Małe Jodło, in the commune of Kunów (where the wooden houses from Wojteczki still stand to this day). The only people who remained in the village were the forester and his family, who lived in the forester’s lodge. They were all killed by the Nazis in 1943.
