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Kraków - Wawel - Smocza Jama - inside

Poland Poland Show cave

Smocza Jama

9 °C inside, all year.

Show caveStalactitesAbyss

See the descentHow to visit

Craig Nagy from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0

The descent

The entrance, at 206 m.

The real relief above Smocza Jama, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance294 m1.0 kmvertical × 18.8depth not publishedEntrance294 m1.0 kmvertical × 40.7

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

206m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

9°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

33m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

9 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 9 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 26 °C at the entrance, 17 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The wettest months are from May to July: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.

outside, at the entrance (206 m)inside
  1. 1°-6°Jan
  2. 3°-5°Feb
  3. 8°-1°Mar
  4. 15°4°Apr
  5. 20°9°May
  6. 23°13°Jun
  7. 26°15°Jul
  8. 26°15°Aug
  9. 21°10°Sep
  10. 14°5°Oct
  11. 8°1°Nov
  12. 2°-4°Dec
Inside: 9 °C all yearFrost outside: Dec–FebWettest: May–Jul

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Limestone cave in the Wawel Hill in Kraków

Smocza Jama is a show cave in Poland. The entrance is at 206 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Show cave: open to visitorsHours in OpenStreetMap: 24/7 · ticket requiredOfficial site
  • Krakównearest town · 1.0 km in a straight line
  • Parking 520 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.0 km from the entrance
  • Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 11 km in a straight lineCar hire at KRK airport (Balice)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Smocza Jama (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 19other cave entrances within 3 kmSmocza Jama, Jaskinia Jasna, Kawerna Magazyn and 16 more
  • 30viewpoints within 3 kmKopiec Krakusa, Metrum and 28 more
  • 8marked hiking routes within 3 kmMałopolska Droga św. Jakuba, Kryspinów - Kraków Salwator, Szlak Twierdzy Kraków - pętla północna and 5 more
  • 19climbing crags within 3 kmCentrum Wspinaczkowe Forteca, Mood, Niski Mur and 16 more
  • 1,395car parks within 2 km
  • 176information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 159bus stops within 2 km
  • 5campsites within 8 kmKrakowianka, Adam, Elcamp Stellplatz and 2 more
  • 499hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMundo, Cracow, Hotel Stary and 496 more
  • 960restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Kraków1.0 km in a straight line
  • Grzegórzki2.7 km in a straight line
  • Zielonki7.6 km in a straight line
  • Bieńczyce7.8 km in a straight line
  • Rząska8.0 km in a straight line
  • Sidzina8.4 km in a straight line
  • Modlniczka9.1 km in a straight line
  • Libertów9.4 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Smocza Jama.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Lakeyas1 lakes within 10 km
Lake Kryspinów0.4 km² · 10 km
Peakyas6 mountains within 10 km
Wawel228 m · 0.3 kmLasota Hill in Kraków · 2.0 kmPychowicka Górka · 4.4 kmSolnik259 m · 5.3 kmSowiniec358 m · 6.3 kmWzgórze Kaim · 9.8 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon1381520232626211482
Afternoon1381520232626211482
Night-6-5-1491315151051-4
Rain (mm)4643485399961067674584641
Rainy days121112121615161311101111
Sun hours/day1.32.74.36.16.97.47.17.15.33.51.41.0
Snow on the ground (cm)1816103000002716
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan11-6461.3
Feb33-5432.7
Mar88-1484.3
Apr15154536.1
May20209996.9
Jun232313967.4
Jul2626151067.1
Aug262615767.1
Sep212110745.3
Oct14145583.5
Nov881461.4
Dec22-4411.0

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (206 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

616308 Kraków Smocza Jama 01
Dawid Galus · CC BY-SA 3.0 pl
616308 Kraków Smocza Jama 02
Dawid Galus · CC BY-SA 3.0 pl
Dragon's Lair (201865422)
Richard Leonard · CC BY-SA 2.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202048%186%57%33%117%138%71%84%152%220%62%80%
2021110%118%70%134%119%53%140%271%91%26%92%98%
2022104%98%50%117%38%60%128%98%130%50%81%182%
2023168%135%85%132%97%75%104%151%102%143%184%143%
2024184%141%102%131%64%134%56%71%155%75%56%53%
202575%51%80%99%80%68%123%47%112%112%194%19%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Smocza Jama

Poland

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 206 mEntrance altitude
  • 9 °CInside, all year

Wladislaus I Cave

Poland · 18 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 474 mEntrance altitude
  • 8 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Ciemna Cave

Poland · 18 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 372 mEntrance altitude
  • 8 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Nietoperzowa Cave

Poland · 19 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 438 mEntrance altitude
  • 8 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q836876) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit