Familiar Podhale and Orava

Rodzaj nawierzchni:
asfaltowe 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

Is wild rosemary edible? Are there any plants that eat animals? Do sheep travel on the train? What is a watershed? And what about the border or weather station? Is it possible to build a house from just one tree? You can find answers to those and many other questions during this trip. The route is safe for kids in trailers (approx. 95% of the route far from the car traffic). 

49 kmTotal ascent: 360 mRiding time (without breaks): 3 hRequired experience: LowNecessary physical fitness: LowStart and end: Czarny Dunajec, Liesek, other (loop)Access: Car

Notes:Helmets required in Slovakia Identity document necessary on the Slovakian sideSuitable for kids on the bikes and in the trailersApprox. 95% of the route far from the car traffic
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.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!Suchá Hora - Liesek: we move to a kind of a different world - full of fields, forests, creeks. So close and so different!A camp next to Liesek: perfect place for a family picnic during the biking trip (benches, table, shelter, outhouse, drinking water).Chochołów: wooden architectural treasure (UNESCO listed), a live memory of former times, a newly opened Peatlands Museum.Domański Wierch: views over Tatry Mountains and Babia Góra, among green fields, pastures and grazing cows.
Description - for the big and the small ones:
We can leave the car safely next to the school in Czarny Dunajec and we follow the cycling path south. On the brink of shadowy forest Baligówka, where, in the past, the army used to have their hidden military bases, we go close to the Peat Plant (you can see the old trolley here), very soon approaching the main Route. From here, we continue the trip on the former railway line. 
We go south, on a slight ascent, admiring the emerging panoramic views over the Tatra mountains, while we go through the protected area of peatlands. On our way, we pass two former railway stations - Podczerwone, and the border station in Suchá Hora. They are like dinosaurs - a memory of a distant past - not many dads or grandmas remember the times, where the trains were running here. There were times, however, when the Podhale sheep, due to a ban on grazing, were boarding a train here to go to Bieszczady mountains!
Behind the Suchá Hora railway station, the landscape changes - we no longer see long narrow lanes, characteristic to Podhale, but vast fields and forest, so characteristic for the Slovakian countryside. We are in Orava. The local streams and rivers do not flow to the Baltic Sea, but to the Black Sea - do you know where it is located?
We reach the former station in Liesek, which is… operating! But nowadays, only as a weather station. Do all the children know what it is all about?Close to the station, around 20 km from Czarny Dunajec, we will find Biking Service Facility in Liesek. Old wayside shrine and Stations of the Cross, drinking water fountain, benches, tables, shelter, bicycle stand, outhouse - a perfect place for a family picnic. 
The further part of the route goes a few hundred metres up, turns towards Poland, and goes back on the same route all the way to Suchá Hora. Next to a small modern wayside shrine, we turn towards Chochołów. Just behind the bridge over Czarny Dunajec, you will find the bathrooms (1 PLN). 
We’re in the centre of Chochołów. It does not look like a regular village. Is it possible that building the church required so many stones, that the rest of the village had to be built with only wood…? Supposedly, one of the houses was built from the wood from one tree only! The village has a newly opened Peatlands Museum - the lovers of peatlands can learn, which plants eat animals and whether wild rosemary is poisonous.
Behind Chochołów, we go up on a looooong scenic ridge - Domański Wierch. Beautiful views all around - but be careful! The cows are grazing not only on the pastures but sometimes they walk on the roads as well!
Just after crossing the forest in Stare Bystre, we turn left, again on the railway route and we go back all the way to Czarny Dunajec. But it is not the end of attractions - on the market square, you can buy delicious ice cream!