Overview
The Northern mountainside of the Tatras owns two of the most gorgeous valleys of the range : Bielovodská Dolina and Javorová Dolina (whose name's meanings are the page's title).
Both of them can be ridden by bike, but unfortunately, for unclear reasons, only on an exaggeratedly short distance, according to the Tatras national park rules. However, one can pin the bike and walk a bit further on. Combined together, both valley in one ride make a more significant goal.
And even if short, the only landscapes make the ride so special. We are surrounded by high jagged peaks everywhere ! For the most demanding cyclers, it is possible to do even more on and around around the few roads that provide access to the valleys.
In short, all the magic of the Tatras through this ride !!
Trail Description
The ride, if doing only the inside of the two valleys, can be started either in Lysá Poľana, at the border with Poland, or in the village of Tatranská Javorina.
The advantages of the second is the absence of touristic car park with costy fees (park in front of the post office in the centre), the presence of few accomodations, shops... As well as the fact that a village is more pleasant than a former socialist border toll... For sure you will not miss the splendid wooden church that makes all the fame of Javorina.
The trail that leads into the valley Javorovská Dolina, named after the village (name which comes from "mapple tree"), is the only one, blue-marked. It leads after 2km to a meadow called "Pod Muranom", which means "under Muráň", the famous limestone peak that overlook it. The panorama is splendid and shows a wide range of high peaks. Here stands a forestry cottage, and a junction with another green-marked trail, but we are not allowed go ahead. Even if we wanted, the trail becomes unsuitable very soon. The best is to lock the bike at the cottage and possibly go for a walk further on. On the next hundred meters on the blue trail we can see a beautiful stream with little waterfalls. Following the green one, longer, leads to a wide alpine amphitheater.
As we get back to Javorina, we turn left on the main road, passing the church, to start climbing a steep little hill, on the border of the road. Soon we reach a pass, where stands the kitsch four star hotel Kolowrat. The views from the meadow, on the opposite side of the road, are stunning. As expected now we ride down and reach quickly Lysá Poľana. What we see first is the car park, doubled with few stinky fast foods and loud music. The entrance into the valley is very discrete, just before the metallic bridge that crosses the river-border, Běła Woda/Biała Woda ("White river", after the bright pebbles).
The cycleable part of the trail in Bielovodská Dolina is covered with asphalt, but in very bad state due to the elements and frequent floodings of the river during the spring. The chaos of boulders and pebbles in the bed of the river witness it ! Later on, the bed of the river becomes more "disciplined", with beautiful viewpoints on its shores, that unveil the first views to the high peaks. The end of the cycle part unfortunately comes too soon, again, at "Biela Voda", where is a wide meadow, and another forestry wooden cottage. And another splendid panorama that shows a wide range of high peaks ! One can pin the bike there and walk further... to notice on how much more distance it could have been done by bike ! In theory one could make it without any problem, on a large track, until the second large meadow that unveils the majestic walls of Mlynar. One tip: before 6am, on a day like June 21th when daylight comes at 4am, TANAP guards are still in bed or drinking coffee in the best case ! Only marmots will greet you... :)
Once in Lysá Poľana again, the simplest option is to return to Javorina, but the sportiest may be interested in a longer loop along the roads, until the point where the rivers Běła Woda and Javorinka are merging.
We need for that to cross the polish border at Lysá Poľana, reach Poroniec after a steep climb, pass Głodówka, until the junction on Wysoki Wierch (1017m). Then, turn right and descend to Brzegi and cross the bridge over the Biała Woda (spelled now in Polish as waters crossed the border too), to reach the village of Jurgów (that can serve as a starting point). We head south along the road 49 to the border of Podspady, passing some old wooden farms on the right side, and watching the stunning views of the Tatras ahead. As we pass the border, we also cross the river Javorinka, and reach Podspady, a small forestry hamlet with a couple of shops. The road 67 that we take West gets back to Tatranska Javorina after a long flat straight line on the foot of the range.
Route 804,720 - powered by www.bikemap.net
Getting There
Both possible trailheads are located not far from the Slovak border of Lysá Poľana, near Poland.
From Slovakia, this place is reached by following the road all around the Tatras (via Ždiar), wherever we come from.
From Cracow, it is reached very conveniently, much better than through Zakopane, using the shortcut of the Jurgów-Podspady border:
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When to Bike
From June 16th to October 31th, according to the TANAP's regulations.