On April 1 of this year, the Malá temná jaskyňa and the Humno cave in the Považská Bystrica district were added to the thirteen caves in the Trenčín Region that are open to the general public. Both are located in the Horné Moštenec district, and the first one can be easily reached by the educational trail from Zemianska Závada, the second one can be found on the hill Úvoz (Snožek) and a more difficult route leads to it.

As stated in the decrees published in the Government Gazette of the Slovak Republic, caves are natural monuments accessible to visitors for the purpose of recovery and learning about their natural and historical values, and the basic obligations of visitors are established in § 24 par. 4 and 5 of Act no. 543/2002 Coll. on nature and landscape protection. This also applies to other freely accessible caves in our region. In the Považskobystrica district, there are also Partizánska jaskyňa on Velky Manín, Pružinská Dúpna cave and Babirátka cave near Pružin. The Cave under Černokňažník in the Manín Tísňava should soon be added to them. The educational trail to the Dark Caves ends for now at the Small Dark Cave.

However, members of the Caving Club Strážovské vrchy, in cooperation with members of the KST, are going to modify and mark the continuation of the trail route up to Horné Moštenec with a detour to the Snožek hill and the Humno cave below its peak. They will also mark the route to the Cave under Černokňažnik near the Fairytale Lane with the symbolic cemetery in the Manín Gorge. A short time ago, they modified a short trail with route markings to the Partizánská cave on Veľky Manín nad Záskalím; turns off from the hiking trail with a yellow sign that leads from Považská Bystrica to Veľký Manín.

From May 1, after the winter break, the Pružinská Dúpna cave will be reopened to the public, to which the Karol Brančík Educational Trail from Pružiny-Piedhoria will lead you. You can visit it accompanied by members of the caving club, and before that you can see the exposed bones of prehistoric cave beasts found there by paleontologists.

The visit must be arranged with the cavers in advance by phone or e-mail (0905 488 028, bohuslav. kortman@speleostrazov.sk). The tour is especially suitable for families with children, primary and secondary school students, as well as other interested parties. On June 24 and 25, with the support of the Trenčín self-governing region, the 13th year of the BLUE BLUE event will take place, which will include the Čelkovská dvánástka tourist march on Saturday and the country festival in Čelková Lehota, and a tour of the Pružinská Dúpna cave with a cave concert on Sunday.

15 caves freely accessible to the public in the Trenčín Region (as of April 1, 2023)

Babirátka, district Považská Bystrica

Den, district By the way

Den hole, district By the way

Ceresňová jaskyňa, district Bánovce nad Bebravou

Hájska jaskyňa, district By the way

Castle cave, district Bánovce nad Bebravou

Humno, district Považská Bystrica

Jánošík cave, district Trenčín

Jelenská jaskyňa, district Trenčín

Košútova jaskyňa, district By the way

Small dark cave, district Považská Bystrica

Opatovská jaskyňa, district Trenčín

Guerrilla cave, district Považská Bystrica

Pružinská Dúpna jaskyňa, district Považská Bystrica

Žernovská jaskyňa, district Bánovce nad Bebravou

Text: BK

Photo: Vladimír Ruček and Bohuslav Kortman archive