Izera Valley Peat Bogs Nature Reserve (Torfowiska Doliny Izery)

The Izera Valley Peat Bogs Nature Reserve (Torfowiska Doliny Izery) is a 529.36-hectare reserve created in 2000 in the Izera valley in the Izera Mountains, in the municipality of Mirsk and partly in Szklarska Poręba, including part of Hala Izerska by the Chatka Górzystów hut. It protects raised peat bogs whose deepest layers are about 11,000 years old.

What does the reserve protect?

The peat bogs began forming at the end of the ice age — the deepest layers are about 11,000 years old. Plants include dwarf birch (at one of only three sites in Poland), dwarf mountain pine, bog pine, juniper, crowberry, cloudberry, peat mosses, sundews, sedges and cotton grass.

According to Świeradów Forest District, 71 bird species nest in the reserve, including black grouse, eagle owl and white-tailed eagle. The Hala Izerska area is also a Ramsar wetland of international importance.

How do you get there?

Marked trails cross Hala Izerska next to Chatka Górzystów. From the Szklarska Poręba side, start at Polana Jakuszycka, take the yellow trail to Orle and then the red trail to the meadow. See how to get to Hala Izerska.

Can you bring a dog?

The forest district and town tourism websites do not publish separate dog rules for this reserve (as of September 2026). If you bring a dog, keep it on a lead and stay on the trail — black grouse breed in the area. If in doubt, ask the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ) in Wrocław, which supervises the reserve.

Is there an entry fee?

No. The reserve lies outside Karkonosze National Park.

Izera Valley Peat Bogs Nature Reserve — questions and answers

It is in the Izera valley in the Izera Mountains, in the municipality of Mirsk and partly in Szklarska Poręba, including Hala Izerska by the Chatka Górzystów hut.

Official forest district and town websites give no separate dog rules for the reserve. Keep your dog on a lead, stay on the trail and ask RDOŚ Wrocław if in doubt.

Other attractions nearby

Orle Tourist Station (mountain hostel)

Szklarska Poręba – Orle

A year-round mountain hostel in a former glassmaking settlement on the Izera — where trails meet for Hala Izerska and Czech Jizerka.

Polana Jakuszycka

Szklarska Poręba – Jakuszyce

Poland’s cross-country skiing capital at 880 m — with a railway stop, an underground car park and trails into the Izera Mountains.