Małołączniak via Kobylarzowy Żleb

Małołączniak via Kobylarzowy Żleb is the blue trail from Gronik, not yellow via Kondracka. The summit is the same (2,096 m). The only chain is here: a short step in the gully.

The tiles and map are a loop: 14.4 km, 7 h 27 min, 1,350 m up. Climb the gully, descend yellow via Kopa Kondracka. The map does not send you down the same blue trail — for good reason.

Trail description

Start at the car park in Gronik, at the mouth of Dolina Małej Łąki.

1. To Przysłop Miętusi (blue, about 1 h): Yellow and blue run together to the fork. Leave the valley on yellow. Blue turns up to Przysłop. Meadow, forest, then steeper.
2. Kobylarz (blue, about 1 h 10 min from Przysłop): Dwarf pine, scree, Kobylarzowa Turnia on the right. Still no chain.
3. The gully (blue, about 1 h 50 min to the summit): Narrow between walls. Low down, a short chained step. On dry rock a fit hiker will pass without drama. After rain it is a mirror. Above: scree, then Czerwony Grzbiet — wide, grassy, Giewont to the side. The summit is flat. Do not test the north edge for a selfie.
4. Descent: Red to Kopa (25 min), yellow to Kondracka and the valley. Do not return down the gully. Walking down that step is worse than going up.

Panorama

From Czerwony Grzbiet, Zakopane lies at your feet, Giewont from above. South: the High Tatras. The reward is the same as on yellow. The difference is the gully, not the summit.

Warnings

• Chain: a step, not an exam before Rysy. Wet limestone means you turn around. Not “I’ll learn on the day”.
• Fog on the ridge: the slopes are gentle, then a cliff. Stay on the marks, do not “feel your way to the meadow”.
• Water: nothing after the stream in the valley. Two litres, not a sip at the car park.
• Storms: the ridge is open. Dark clouds mean you go down yellow, you do not look for a shortcut in the gully.

Descent and logistics

The map closes the loop in Gronik. Same car park. TPN ticket at the mouth or online. No dogs on this page.

If someone is already sitting down at Przysłop — you go back. The gully does not get gentler higher up.

Segment times

From the map:

• Gronik – Przysłop Miętusi: 1 h
• Przysłop – Kobylarz: 1 h 10 min
• Kobylarz – summit: 1 h 50 min
• Summit – Kopa Kondracka: 25 min
• Kopa – Gronik (yellow): 3 h 01 min

7 h 27 min is clean walking time. A holiday day with a break on the ridge is 8–9 hours.

Other approaches

• Yellow via Kondracka — no chains. That is the recommended page for the peak.
• Czerwone Wierchy — the whole ridge, Małołączniak on the way, still no chain on the red trail.

In winter

The gully in winter is avalanches and ice on the step, not “the same trail in a hat”. If you do not hike in winter regularly, leave Małołączniak for a snow-free season or go only as far as Przysłop.

Who this is not for

Not for a first chain in your life if it has rained. Not with a fear of heights hoping the step “is short, so it is nothing”. Not a descent of the gully because the climb felt easy.

If you want a 2,000 m peak from Mała Łąka without technique, stay on the Małołączniak via Kondracka page. The gully is a variant, not the default way up.