Of all the canyons in the Slovak Paradise national park, Prielom Hornádu is one of the few, if not the only, that is a two-way street. This made it perfect for a loop, taking a detour via Kláštorská roklina, monastery gorge, up to the monastery ruins, down a steep forest trail, past the Tomášovský viewpoint and back along the river. It’s a 19km adventure taking you over ladders and steps, high over the water, hugging the rocks and immerses you in the forest.
It’s a beautiful fall day when I make my way to the start. It’s early, but the sun is already driving away the clouds. I walk down the road, away from the town Hrabušice, and find the Hornád river near an intersection. A sign directs me to a path through the fields, alongside the river. Further along is a small rest area where a man is enjoying the warmth of the sun. There is an old, simple ski lift where I turn to find the official entrance into the gorge. It’s quiet, apart from a rumble I can’t quite place. The path is small and full of leaves and branches. It seems like nature is claiming back what’s hers. I have to climb over a fallen tree and listen to the creaking of branches above me. I look up and realise that one may well fall down today. But in the gorge I’m sheltered from the wind though and it even gets quite warm. A statue of Mary gives me a fright at the start of the trail, until I realise she isn’t real.
It doesn’t take long until I hear something; the laughs of a couple ahead of me. They’ve arrived at the first obstacles that are somewhat more exciting. The small trail at the side of the river gently goes up and down and there are steps and chains to help us hikers. Then I see one of the most spectacular parts of the gorge in the distance. The couple has already arrived and I see a pink dot hugging the rock wall. The trail here consists of platforms that are attached to the wall, several meters above the river. At one point you go around the rock and I even have to face the rock and shuffle along, holding on to the chains to get around a piece of rock that’s sticking out. On the other side I find the couple taking photos. The woman laughs when she sees me: “We’re glad to see another person, you know with bears and all!” I had thought about bears and was wondering if they’d started their hibernation yet…
I passed the couple and continued, following the meandering river. A few times I crossed the river over bridges that offered views down the canyon. And there were many more fun obstacles, rocky climbs and colorful paths. I was carrying a tiny backpack, just big enough for some water and food. I took my bottle out for a sip of water before another series of obstacles started, but when I wanted to put it back my zipper broke… a zipper that went all along the length of the backpack. There I stood, trying to figure out how to carry all my stuff. I tied layers of clothings around my waste, stuffed my pockets and used the small compartment on the back of the backpack. Miraculously I managed not too lose anything along the way!
After a while I crossed a bridge that led me to a crossing. From here you can leave the longest gorge to enter the shortest: monastery gorge. I remembered my host mentioning the gorge so decide to head in. There was no turning back, since this gorge is one way only. Again I heard some voices, but they appeared to come from above. On my left was a little cave up in the rock wall that a small group of people was checking out. I decided to go ahead towards the first proper ladder of the day. This gorge was perhaps the wildest of those I’ve seen, with lots of fallen trees and rocks to climb over. The ladders were pretty impressive and I was gaining height fast. It was nice to turn around and look out over the narrow canyon, a completely different sight compared to the Prielom Hornádu.
Although it was still exciting, strangely I also got used to the ladders and obstacles and gained some confidence. I thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet and being active in the nature. A last staircase of tree roots led me out of the gorge sooner than expected. I followed the path on the top and ended up in a field with the monastery ruins on my right. Spread out here and there stood some little cottages and a couple of bigger buildings. Apart from one man, it was quiet. I didn’t really know where to go from here. In summer there a hut that sells lunch, but it looked dark and empty, so I chose a trail in a direction I hadn’t been yet.
This trail was spookier than the gorge. At this height I noticed the wind was pretty strong, disturbing the tree tops above me. At times I felt it trying to push me aside. Luckily there were no cliff edges, but at times I had beautiful views into the national park. After a small flat trail I had to zigzag down an incredible steep slope. I was so busy looking at where I placed my feet that I didn’t notice the man hiking up until we were practically passing each other. I looked back up. Rather him than me… My trail eventually dropped me off back in the Prielom Hornádu gorge. New signs pointed me in the direction of the Tomášovský viewpoint. The next sign warned me that I was entering nature, a dangerous place where branches could fall down. I kept going up and up and up, until I reached the viewpoint. There was a whole group of people having a picnic. The viewpoint was not only accessible from the gorge, but also from the nearby towns, by bike or on foot.
After a nice break on the plateau I started to cool down a bit much and decided to keep going. I took the high road, rather than going back down towards the river. In hindsight the river would have been more fun. The high road had some beautiful fall foliage, but it wasn’t nearly as exciting, so when I got the chance to go back down at the Letanovce Mill I took it. From here I made my way back to Hrabušice through the gorge. The first part was new, until the crossing with the monastery gorge. From there you have to keep going on the same trail, but I didn’t mind. It was beautiful. Before I knew it something startled me. For the second time this creepy statue entered my view from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t help but laugh.
If you’re also going to the Slovak Paradise national park, you can find the full hiking route on Komoot. I stayed at a great place called Villa Raj, in the town Hrabušice. You can reach it by bus from Spišská Nová Ves.
