The Ropice Ridge Hiking Trail is an energetic and quite demanding trail through quiet forests with occasional signs of human habitation. It is not a popular trail which means you can walk for a long time without meeting anybody else. It also means that you can see more wildlife than on other hiking trails in the Beskydy Mountains.

The beginning is steep but once you get to the ridge, it is much friendlier. This is typical of nearly all ridge walks in the Beskydy Mountains but it is also one of the attractions and something that makes it more rewarding. 

The walk is all below the alpine tundra level, so you are mostly walking through thick beech and oak forest. This gradually turns into dense spruce forests, all quiet and strongly scented with resin. When the forest opens up you have wonderful views over the Beskydys, with seemingly unbroken forest stretching away to the horizon. 

During the first part of the walk, you can feel like you are the only person in the world. Fresh mountain springs flow with cold, clear water and depending on the season, there can be nuts, berries or mushrooms for gathering.

About halfway round, you come to one of the oldest tourist cottages in the Beskydys. These buildings were constructed for hikers in the late 19th Century and still offer accommodation, food, drink and warm Slavic hospitality to visitors today.

There are also memorials and information boards dedicated to various groups of partisans who parachuted into the Beskydys during the last months of the Second World War; a reminder that these peaks and forests were not always so peaceful and welcoming.

When you finish back in the valley, you can have a well-earned rest in the many fine restaurants, pubs and hotels. The local food and drink is something special!

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