When planning our next trip, instead of asking “where” we have not travelled yet, we asked “how” we have not travelled yet. On our trips so far, we have used the buses of the public transport system and the suburban lines, but we have not taken a train yet. On our first trip by train, we are going to visit a nearby town of Lisková. There is only one train stop in Lisková, called “Lisková zast.“. In the vicinity of the train stop, there is also a bus stop, called “Lisková,,kult.dom“, in case you want to take a suburban bus instead. Situated eastwards above Lisková is a less well-known hill called “Vrchštál”, which has a meadow ridge, which means you can get lovely views of the surroundings. In addition to the views, our trip will also show us some history and we will also see a natural site you might not have heard of.

To get to Lisková, we take a passenger train. At the train crossing, we wait for the train to leave and then we safely cross the railway. By the train station building, we will see a hiking signpost, and although the yellow-marked trail of the signpost does not lead to our destination, it does go in our direction for a few dozen metres. The paved side walk by the road leads us to the local community centre, where we can see the bus stop we mentioned earlier and an educational panel with some information about Lisková. From the things on the panel, we are going to see the memorial, the monument, and Mohylky, and so we may read something about them. At the intersection, we will continue to the right, but before that, we have a look at the monument situated a few metres to the left of the intersection. The road leads us to the local grocery store, at which we turn left to the road running towards the local farm. We can get some supplies at the grocery store, if we did not bring anything with us or if we forgot something. We pass by the farm, behind which there is a new motorway bridge, which is not in use yet, but the works have been stopped for a while now. In front of the bridge, the road splits up and we continue on the branch running to the right. The road through the valley behind the bridge leads us to a complex with motocross tracks. We can pick a few rose hips from the bushes by the road, which have soft flesh that tastes sweet in the mouth and is full of vitamins. Not far away from the place where the road passes under a high-voltage line, we turn to the right from the road, to a meadow slope. At this place, you will see a distinct passageway to the meadow through the bushes. A travelled track covered with grass leads us towards lonely trees, behind which there is a hunters’ hide. When we come to the hunters’ hide, we are already on the ridge, which means we can enjoy the views of the surroundings. Our steps lead continuously uphill to the highest point of the route, where we will see a triangulation rod, marking the highest point of hill Vrchštál. The peak itself consists of a meadow with some bushes at a distance, offering a beautiful panoramic view of the surroundings. We can briefly mention the view of the Great Fatra, the Low and the West Tatras, or a part of the Choč Mountains and the High Tatras. If we were to name everything we are able to see, we would have to fill an entire new page with names, so we hope that enjoying the attached photographs will be enough. After soaking up the views, we continue by the bushes, to the left. Passing by the poles of the high-voltage line, we get to the ski tow above the town of Turík. The road leads us further past the motocross complex, to a notch. In the notch, we continue neither to the right, nor to the left, but we go directly uphill on a steep path leading us by a fence, towards a wooded area. At the periphery of the wooded area, there is a small cabin, in front of which we turn to the left, to a road running downhill. The road leads us along the periphery of the woods, where we see several hunters’ hides, to a memorial. The road above the fields offers plenty of views, in particular of the Low Tatras, which make our hike more pleasant. In the final section, the road leads us to natural reserve Mohylky, which is known for the animal fossils situated here, which you can read about on the educational panel located in this area.

At Mohylky, we looked around a bit and during a few minutes we spent there, we picked up some litter left behind by unruly visitors, which was lying around in the grass, especially in the area around the resting bench. Our trips are beneficial not only because they are a way for us to spend time in nature, which gives us energy for the next week, but we also use them to help nature, because in accordance with the idea of #ObjavUdržateľnéSlovensko (DiscoverSustainableSlovakia), we contribute to maintaining cleanliness of the locations we visit and we always carry away with us what does not belong there.

From Mohylky, we continue to the left, towards the motorway bridge we already passed under earlier, and we return to the town. If you do not feel like walking to the centre of Lisková, you can return with a suburban bus, which has a bus stop located behind the grocery store by a nearby intersection.

On our trip, we had beautiful sunny weather full of views, and moreover, we barely found any litter along the route, and so we were leaving this location with really good impressions. The only thing that disappointed us a little was the road which was full of mud from the vehicles used for the motorway construction, which transport the excavated soil under the bridge. Getting a bit dirty and muddy is a part of exploring your surroundings, and we are already looking forward to getting dirty again at another location during our explorations of the surroundings of Ružomberok.

The text was prepared by Milan Kolčák and Ján Benčík from the Ružomberok Information Centre.

This is the twelfth article of the article series with subtitle Nature as Therapy.

Published: 9.12.2021