The national mountain of Slovakia
Kriváň is not the highest peak of the Tatras (that is Gerlachovský štít, 2,655 m), but it is the one Slovaks treat as their own. Since the 19th century it has stood for Slovak freedom and Slavic solidarity. From 1960 to 1990 a fire burning in front of Kriváň was the coat of arms of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia. In November 2005 a public vote run by the National Bank of Slovakia chose Kriváň, in a design by Drahomír Zobek, for the 1, 2 and 5 cent coins, in circulation since Slovakia adopted the euro on 1 January 2009. Even a minor planet, (24260) Kriváň, carries its name.
Its height is usually given as 2,494.7 m, rounded to 2,494 or 2,495 m on maps. Kriváň ends a long side ridge that leaves the main Tatra ridge at Čubrina on the Polish border, and it is often said to rise higher above its own base than any other Tatra peak: about 1,400 m above the floor of the Kôprová valley. The north faces drop up to 500 m; the trails use the gentler southern slopes. From the summit you see the whole Liptov basin, the grassy Western Tatras, the rocky High Tatras with Rysy and Gerlach, the Polish Tatras and, to the south, the Low Tatras with Ďumbier and Chopok. Below the east face, at 2,017 m, lies Krivánske Zelené pleso, the source of the Biely Váh, a headwater of Slovakia's longest river.
Where it is and how to get there
Kriváň stands in the Tatra National Park (TANAP), about 22 km north-east of Liptovský Mikuláš. All trailheads are on the Cesta slobody road between Štrbské Pleso (1,355 m) and Podbanské (about 940 m), served by buses. Štrbské Pleso is reached by the Tatra Electric Railway from Poprad, which has the nearest airport, or by the rack railway from Štrba on the Bratislava–Košice line.
- Tri studničky (1,141 m): bus stop and paid car park at a former forester's lodge; the shortest route.
- Biely Váh bus stop (Jambrichovo junction, about 1,215 m): the blue trail via Jamské pleso.
- Štrbské Pleso station: the red Tatranská magistrála, then the blue trail.
- Podbanské: the magistrála to Tri studničky, then the green trail; the longest day.
Routes to the summit
All marked routes meet at the junction in the Krivánsky žľab gully, at about 2,130 m. The last 350–370 m of height go below Malý Kriváň (2,334 m) to the Daxnerovo sedlo saddle (about 2,319 m), where you first look down on the green lake, then along the rocky Pavlov chrbát ridge and up the steep south-western side of the summit pyramid. This is the only section where you need your hands in places.
From Tri studničky (green, then blue). The most popular route: about 6 km one way and about 1,355 m of ascent. The trail zigzags through forest to the foot of Grúnik (1,576 m), crosses dwarf pine below Vyšná Priehyba (1,982 m) and enters the wide, bouldery Krivánsky žľab. The Dajama guidebook gives 3 h to the summit; the Polish 1:20,000 map gives 4 h 45 min up and 3 h 45 min down. In a year of work completed in October 2026 the Hikemates hiking club, TANAP, the Slovak armed forces and more than 500 volunteers rebuilt the trail: 1.3 km of stone paving, almost 1,000 wooden steps against erosion, a new shelter and more than 180 m of chains and iron staples on the exposed sections below the summit. It was closed for most of the 2026 season and reopened on 9 October.
From Biely Váh via Jamské pleso (blue). About 8 km one way. Through forest to the Jamské pleso junction (1,447 m) by a small lake in a stone pine grove, then up the Predný Handel ridge past Nad Jamami (1,572 m) to the junction. The Polish map gives 5 h up and 3 h 45 min down.
From Štrbské Pleso (red, then blue). About 10 km one way and about 1,150 m of ascent, along the magistrála past the Furkotská valley to Jamské pleso. About 4 h 15 min up by the guidebook, 5 h 10 min by the Polish map.
A popular loop goes up from Tri studničky and down via Jamské pleso back to Tri studničky (6 h by the guidebook, 1,354 m of ascent). Podbanské adds about 12 km one way and the most climbing. The old miners' cart road between the green and blue trails is unmarked and closed, and the north face and other ridges are closed to climbing.
Rules and closures (as of 2026)
No guide or permit is needed, but you must stay on the marked trails; leaving them is prohibited in the national park and can be fined. The trails above the Tri studničky and Jamské pleso junctions fall under the TANAP seasonal closure from 1 November to 31 May; in 2026 they reopened on 1 June. Check tanap.sk for temporary closures: in late September 2026 the summit section was shut for several days while chains were flown in by helicopter. On the day of the National Ascent in August expect hundreds of people on the trail.
Are there huts on Kriváň?
No. There is no staffed hut on any route and nowhere to buy food or drink above the road; you will find only simple shelters, at Jamské pleso and the new one on the Tri studničky trail. The nearest hut, Chata pod Soliskom (1,840 m), is open all year by the top station of the Solisko chairlift above Štrbské Pleso, but it stands beyond the Furkotská valley and is no base for Kriváň. Sleep in the hotels of Štrbské Pleso or Podbanské, or in Liptov.
There used to be huts closer. Gustáv Nedobrý, an organiser of Slovak hiking, built one on the shore of Jamské pleso; it burned in 1943 and German troops destroyed the rest in 1944. The Važecká chata near Tri studničky stood in 1933–1944 and, as Chata kapitána Rašu, in 1961–1999, until it burned down; its site has since served as a car park.
When to go and weather
The trail is open from 1 June to 31 October; the best months are usually July to September. In June and October expect hard, icy snow on shaded slopes, as TANAP warned when the trails opened in 2026. Snow covers the summit for up to six and a half months a year. Summer storms build quickly: in June 2026 a hiker was struck by lightning on the summit around noon, and in October 2020 a young Polish hiker died near the top, probably after a lightning strike. The Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) asks hikers to follow the forecast and the weather during the day. Start early and be off the ridge by early afternoon.
Water
Carry everything you need: at least 2 litres per person on a summer day, more when it is hot, since most of the climb is in the sun above the treeline. Lower down the green trail crosses the upper Beliansky stream and the blue trail passes Jamské pleso and the Biely Váh, but the upper part of the climb is dry rock. Treat stream and lake water.
Mobile coverage and internet
There is no Wi-Fi on the mountain. Slovak networks cover the resorts and much of the open upper slopes, and calls from near the summit are often possible: in 2020 Polish hikers there reached the Slovak rescuers through the Polish TOPR. In the forest and gullies the signal can drop. The Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) answers on 18 300; the general emergency number is 112. Download an offline map and carry insurance that covers mountain rescue in Slovakia.
Dangers and safety
- Slips and falls on the final 350 m, especially on wet rock. In 2019 a hiker fell about 20 m from the trail below the summit; in 2022 a National Ascent participant slipped on a wet, exposed section near the junction.
- Loose stones in the Krivánsky žľab, where the trail climbs over moving blocks.
- Lightning on the summit and the open ridge.
- Fog and wind. In bad weather the rescue helicopter may not get above Štrbské Pleso, and rescuers must walk up for hours. Helicopter pilots regard Kriváň as dangerous because of its gusty, shifting winds.
- Length. Over 1,300 m up and down on rough ground; keep strength for the descent.
History and name
The name. First recorded as "Kriwan" in 1639 by David Frölich of Kežmarok, who likened the peak to an ox's tail, the name comes from "krivý", crooked: seen from Liptov, the summit leans to the north-east. A legend says an angel flying home to heaven at dusk brushed it with his wing and bent it. The Poles call it Krywań, the Hungarians Kriván, and the old German names were Krummhorn and Ochsenhorn.
Gold and first ascents. Miners dug for gold here from the 15th century, later for antimony; the highest shaft, Terézia, lay only about 50–60 m below the summit, and ruins of miners' huts survive at about 2,000 m. Miners or poachers surely stood on top first. The first recorded ascent was by Andreas Jonas Czirbesz, a pastor from Spišská Nová Ves, on 4 August 1773 (some sources say 1772). Kriváň was long thought the highest Tatra peak, until the English naturalist Robert Townson climbed it with a barometer in 1793 and showed that Lomnický štít was higher; his guide from Važec collected coins that visitors left under a summit stone for luck. Theodor Wundt and the guide Jakob Horvay made the first winter ascent on 12 April 1884.
A king's obelisk. King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony reached the summit on 4 August 1840, and a year later a cast-iron obelisk of 850 kg with a gilded crown was raised there in his honour. Slovak patriots resented it: in 1856 unknown "pan-Slavs" threw the crown down the slope, and the remains were destroyed during a national excursion on 3 September 1861.
The national ascents. On 24 September 1835 Gašpar Fejérpataky-Belopotocký, a publisher from Liptovský Mikuláš, climbed Kriváň with six friends and described it in the journal Hronka. On 16 August 1841 a larger party followed, among them Ľudovít Štúr, the 25-year-old codifier of the Slovak literary language, and Michal Miloslav Hodža, with women taking part for the first recorded time; on the summit Štúr recited his poem "Ku Křiváni". The trip became the model for patriotic "national excursions", the largest led by Štefan Marko Daxner in 1861. Partisans raised a flag on the summit in autumn 1944; the ascents were revived in 1955 in memory of the Slovak National Uprising, and in 1968 more than 1,500 people took part. Today the National Ascent of Kriváň is held every August by the Slovak Tourist Club, Matica slovenská and the local towns; in 2026 it fell on 15 August.
Interesting facts
- The first known victim of the mountain was Ján Blaškievič, a tailor who guided tourists up without a licence; he died in 1898.
- Nikolai Gogol mentions Kriváň in "A Terrible Vengeance" (1832). Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer's poem "Hej, Krywaniu, Krywaniu wysoki!" became a folk song in Podhale, recorded by the rock band Skaldowie in 1972.
- A wooden double cross has stood on the summit since 2003, beside a 1996 plaque in memory of Štúr's ascent.
- In 1953, when the tradition ended, 1,760 sheep and 200 cattle still grazed below Kriváň.
FAQ
How high is Kriváň? 2,494 m (2,494.7 m in precise surveys; some maps say 2,495 m), about 1,350 m above Tri studničky.
How long does it take to climb Kriváň? Usually 3–5 hours up and 2½–4 hours down, depending on route and pace. From Tri studničky it is about 6 km one way; plan 6–9 hours for the round trip.
How difficult is it? A strenuous hike, not a climb: over 1,300 m of ascent and a steep, rocky final 350 m where you sometimes use your hands. Chains were added on the exposed sections in 2026.
Do I need a guide or a permit? No. The marked trails are open to everyone from 1 June to 31 October; leaving them is prohibited.
Are there huts on Kriváň? No, only simple shelters. The nearest staffed hut, Chata pod Soliskom (1,840 m), is above Štrbské Pleso on another ridge; stay in Štrbské Pleso or Podbanské.
Is there water on the way? Only streams and lakes low down (treat the water). Carry at least 2 litres per person.
Is there mobile phone coverage? Often on the open upper slopes and near the summit, not reliably in forest and gullies. Mountain Rescue (HZS): 18 300; emergency: 112.
When is the best time to climb Kriváň? July to September. The trail is closed from 1 November to 31 May, and icy snow is common in June and October. Start early to avoid storms.