The Eye of the Sea and the Black Lake

If you happen to be in the southern Poland (Lesser Poland Voivodeship, somewhere near Zakopane to be exact), you love mountains as much as I do and you have at least half day off, there’s a place you definitely need to see. It’s called The Eye of the Sea (Morskie Oko) and it’s the largest lake in the Tatra Mountains.

From the nearest parking lot (and the beginning of the National Park) the walk here should take you about 2 hours. Of course you could also take horse-drawn cart that would take you almost to the lake, but I don’t really see the point in doing so. The path isn’t very demanding, and you can enjoy the beauty of the nature more going by foot. And you’ll save a lot of money too ;)

Morskie Oko is one of the most popular destinations in the Tatra Mountains, sometimes the area close to the shelter is a bit overcrowded for my taste (but you can order hot chocolate here, so...). If you decide to encircle the lake not only will you find much more secluded locations, but also some even more breathtaking views than at the entrance of the valley.

If you’re confident with your condition I recommend climbing to the Black Lake too. The beginning of the path to this place is located about half way of encircling the Eye of the Sea (in the trees on the left side of two photos above), and it’s rather abrupt. You should be able to reach the lake in about half an hour. To me it was really exhausting, I’m not in a good shape at all :p But the view from above.. Breathtaking.

This smaller lake is located right below the highest peak in the Polish Tatras called Rysy, and is called Black because for most of the time sun isn’t able to shine at it surface and often we can’t see how clear the water actually is.

Photos simply do not do this place justice.  When I was there for the first time I was mesmerized, atmosphere of this area really touches your soul :)

And also, as a bonus, here’s a photo of a really small lake that I noticed close to the trail. It probably doesn’t even have a name, such a shame. It’s magical.

Do you feel encouraged to pay a visit? ;)

Magdalena