Oravská Polhora: Bagpipe Culture, Wetlands and Trails to Babia hora

Oravská Polhora combines a literary heritage, a vibrant bagpipe culture and landscapes that lead you to wetlands and along trails to Babia hora. The range of attractions extends from freely accessible natural sites and exhibitions to winter sports activities. This allows you to discover the village according to your interests—culturally, actively or with a focus on the landscape.

Literature, Bagpipe Culture and Local History

Hájovňa pod Babou horou is home to two literary exhibitions. The Orava Museum dedicates one exhibition to the work The Gamekeeper’s Wife by Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav; there is also a literary exhibition about Milo Urban. Both topics make the lodge a place where you can discover the region’s literary tradition through specific exhibitions.

The Európske centrum gajdošskej kultúry in Oravská Polhora offers a different cultural focus. The museum explores bagpipe music and its history, displaying various types of bagpipes and other related artefacts. The centre also provides space for cultural events, workshops, concerts and exhibitions that are not limited to bagpipe music and culture.

The international GAJDOVAČKA festival featured concerts, workshops, lectures, a gala programme and a ceremonial mass with bagpipe music from various European countries. Modralová is also known as Gajdošská strunga and connects the three regions of Orava, Silesia and Lesser Poland through their vibrant bagpipe traditions. The Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus also contains a 5.2-metre-high statue of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Wetlands and Trails to Babia hora

The Slaná voda wetland is one of Oravská Polhora’s notable natural sites. Accessible via an educational trail, it is the best-preserved and most accessible to tourists of the three protected wetlands in Oravská Polhora. You can explore the wetland via a wooden walkway and observe round-leaved sundews, orchids and dragonflies.

Slaná voda is also an important starting point for trails to Babia hora. A seven-hour circular hike to Babia hora begins and ends at Slaná voda. The circular route uses Slaná voda as its access point, with a bus stop and car park. Another option is the Slaná voda–Babia hora educational trail: it begins in Oravská Polhora at the Slaná voda lodge and includes 13 stations.

Modralová can also be reached by various routes. A cycling route leads to Modralová, while a moderately difficult hike begins in the Píla district. This landscape therefore offers both a cycling connection and a hike with an explicitly stated difficulty level.

The iodine-bromine spring Slaná voda is located in a pavilion at the site of the former spa facility. The spring is freely accessible to visitors. The reference to the former spa town belongs to the history of the place and does not refer to a present-day spa facility.

Winter Sports in the Village Centre

For the cold season, SKI Oravská Polhora offers several documented options. The family-friendly ski area is located in the village centre, has five lifts and includes approximately two kilometres of pistes in total. SKI Oravská Polhora also offers ski mountaineering and cross-country skiing.

The facilities also include ski equipment rental, a ski school, ski service, ski-mountaineering equipment rental and e-bike rental. Oravská Polhora thus combines winter sports, equipment and other activities without being limited to a single travel experience.

More Destinations

For more destinations in the Slovakia portal, you can also choose Oravské Veselé, Námestovo, Rabčice, Sihelne, Bobrov, Zákamenné, Novot and Hruštín.

For the higher-level travel overview: Námestovo District.