Tri studničky - Kriváň

Access to the starting point:
The best way out of Slovenia is past Graz, Vienna, Bratislava, Nitra and Banská Bystrica, over the Donovali Pass to Ružomberok and then on to Poprad (E50), but soon leave the motorway at the Liptovski Hradok exit and follow the "Freedom Road" (537) through the village of Pribylina, next to which there is also an important ethnological settlement, to the Tri studničky parking lot, where you can park in the pay parking lot.

Path description:
On the east side of the parking lot, turn left and follow the initially asphalt road (there are additional car parks alongside) uphill for about 150 metres. At the signs that say it takes 4 hours to reach the top of Kriváň, turn left and follow the path that runs alongside the road that took you to the car park, slightly downhill. After about 600 metres you will reach an old forestry hut. You can also get here from the car park by following the road back in the route from which you came and, just before the first bend, turn right onto the path just described. At the forestry hut there are some benches for (too quick) rest and water by the route signs. Looking at the signposts, we are surprised to see that we are already half an hour closer to our destination, as the signs say that the summit is only 3 hours and 30 minutes away. Turn right onto the green marked trail heading north-west. The path becomes steeper and, passing a partisan bunker, climbs in serpentine lines to the foot of Grúnik (1576 m). Out of the forest, you come to pine-covered banks between which the path continues to rise serpentinely. As we leave this lane of pine trees, the view of Kriváň opens up before us. To the right of the summit we see the crossroads of "Krivánskom žľabe", but there is still some way to go. Above the path is Vyšná priehyba (1982 m), and we are crossing under the ridge towards the chute that descends into the valley from below Malý Kriváň (2334 m). There is also a signpost at the crossroads which tells you that the summit is only a 1h 15 min walk away. From the green marked trail, take the blue trail, which first turns left, then right into a gully and over the gully a little further to the right into a more consolidated rocky slope. The old path followed the couloir but was diverted to the right due to unstable rocks, and many visitors still climb up the couloir to the saddle between Mali Kriváň and Kriváň. The difficulty of the route increases slightly in this firm and reliable rocky terrain. Soon you reach the south ridge and first climb up to the Little Kriváň (2334 m). From the top you descend to the Daxner saddle, which is also reached by an unofficial old trail that winds up the couloir. Continue straight ahead and climb up the ridge for a while, then leave the ridge, turn slightly to the left and climb up the rocky flank to the summit with the help of some easy scrambling. As it is a kind of Slovak 'Triglav', there are many hikers to the summit in the summer season. It is therefore a good idea to think about leaving early. The car park at the starting point is often full before 5 am.

On the way: Grúnik (1576m), Vyšná priehyba (1982m), Razpotje v Krivánskom žľabe (2120m), Malý Kriváň (2334m), Daxnerovo sedlo (2325m)

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