Following the train to Orava

Rodzaj nawierzchni:
asfaltowe ścieżki rowerowe
szutrowe ścieżki rowerowe
drogi publiczne

Rodzaj roweru:
SPD - trasy odpowiednie dla każdego rodzaju roweru, tzn. szosowego, crossowego i górskiego/MTB
TRK - trasy odpowiednie dla roweru crossowego i górskiego/MTB

There’s nothing new under the sun, literally! The former railway route, abandoned and forgotten, came back to life as a beautiful cycling route. Get on your bike, get to know the amazing corners of the western Podhale, and the charm of Orava’s nature. The route is comfortable, so you can enjoy the views over Tatra Mountains, Babia Góra, or Orava’s peatlands. What is more: wooden houses in Chochołów and… a chance for shopping in Slovakia.

67 kmTotal ascent: 490 mRiding time (without breaks): 4 h 2 min Required experience:  LowNecessary physical fitness: ModerateStart: Nowy TargEnd: Czarny Dunajec, other (loop)Access: car, trainProfile, road surface, types of roads:
Notes:Helmets required in Slovakia Identity document necessary on the Slovakian sideSuitable for biking with children75% of the route far from the car trafficDownload gpx track

Main attractions of the route:Former railway Nowy Targ - Trstená: nowadays, a transborder cycling route, however, its history is a great lesson about these areas, as well as about the whole of Europe.Water tower in Nowy Targ: an exhibition about the history of the railway line in the renovated building.Sanctuary in Ludźmierz: the religious centre of Podhale and a place of a peculiar event regarding bishop Karol Wojtyła.Peatlands of the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin - the unique natural place on a European scale, where the wild rosemary grows and the plants eat animals (sundews). Protected area!Domański Wierch: views over Tatry Mountains and Babia Góra, among green fields, pastures and grazing cows.Suchá Hora - Liesek: we move to a kind of a different world - full of fields, forests, creeks. So close and so different!Chochołów - wooden architectural treasure (UNESCO listed), a live memory of former times, and a newly opened Peatlands MuseumShopping in Suchá Hora - chocolate, nuts, drinks? Nech sa páči!
Description:
We start the trip at Nowy Targ’s railway station, from where we go towards Ludźmierz, to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludźmierz. Next, we reach the former railway line Nowy Targ - Trstená, and following it, we comfortably go west. Watch out, because behind Rogoźnik we turn left, so we can follow the gentle ridge and go among the fields and pastures while admiring the peatlands on the right and Tatra mountains on the left.
Following the signs, we reach Chochołów, a wooden architectural treasure of Poland. After crossing the bridge over Czarny Dunajec, we approach the border and, at the same time, the European watershed - local rivers and streams flow to the Black Sea. This is a sign, we are in Orava. As we carefully follow the roadside, we pass the shops and houses of Suchá Hora, just to turn right, towards the old railway station. 
We reach the Route and go left, down through the idyllic landscape of Orava fields and forests, to the wayside shrine in Liesek, close to the former railway station, nowadays serving as a weather station. Here, we find a rest stop: comfy shelter, drinking water fountain, views, and a toilet (outhouse). The last train left Liesek at the beginning of the 1970s. The path, after a short ascent, leads back to Poland (if you wish, you can go further on the Route to Trstená - roundtrip 10 km, 0.5 h).
After passing the ruins of the railway station in Suchá Hora, we follow the Route, through slight zigs and zags, we go down to Podczerwone, from where the last train to Nowy Targ left in 1989. Further, still, on the former railway embankment, we go all the way to Nowy Targ, which we enter from the side of the neighbourhood Osiedle Bór and so-called Kombinat, where up to 1992, you could find huge leather-dressing factories. You can end the trip at the railway station (and, for example, see the new exhibition about the railway line’s history in a renovated water tower), but we recommend visiting the market square and trying local ice cream, as you definitely deserve it.
Photo report from the trip on 9th June 2019, with photos and descriptions: http://www.szlakwokoltatr.eu/aktualnosc/wycieczka-nr-1---za-pociagiem-na-orawe A must see!