Jánošíkove diery: where to park and where to start the hike

You can enter the gorges from two sides, and each suits a different route. Park in the wrong place and you end up either with a long walk back along the road or with a loop you did not plan. Here is where to go, depending on what you have in mind.

Biely Potok: the main start

The public paid car park in front of Hotel Diery in the hamlet of Biely Potok is the main entrance to the gorges. Both the small loop through Nové and Dolné diery and the big loop through Horné diery to the Medzirozsutce saddle start and finish here. Right by the car park is the bus stop Terchová, Biely Potok h. Diery.

In the main season and at weekends the car park is not big enough, so hiking portals recommend arriving as early in the morning as you can. The price list is displayed at the entrance. Entry to the gorges themselves is free.

Štefanová: entering from above

Štefanová has a paid car park from which a nature trail leads towards Podžiar. It is about three kilometres, with 185 m of ascent and ten boards about nature. From this side you reach the gorges from above, at the Podžiar junction, where Nové diery ends and Horné diery begins.

Štefanová is the better start if you want to combine the gorges with the Rozsutec peaks. The loop from Štefanová through Horné diery and Medzirozsutce to Veľký Rozsutec is about 10 km and takes around five and a half hours; details in Veľký Rozsutec in autumn.

Which start for which route

• The small loop through Nové and Dolné diery: Biely Potok.
• The big loop through Horné diery: Biely Potok.
• Just the nature trail: Štefanová, a loop through Dolné and Nové diery.
• Horné diery with Veľký Rozsutec: Štefanová.
• The traverse over Malý Rozsutec: start in Štefanová, finish in Biely Potok, ideally with two cars. More in Malý Rozsutec.

For a full overview of the routes, ladders and waterfalls, see our guide to Jánošíkove diery.

By bus

SAD Žilina regional buses run from Žilina on the Žilina, Terchová, Vrátna line. For the gorges, get off at Terchová, Biely Potok h. Diery. Only services marked Terchová, Vrátna continue to Štefanová and the cable car, so check the sign on the bus at Žilina station. The current timetable is on sadza.sk.

Podžiar: where the routes meet

The Podžiar junction is the crossroads of the gorges. The one-way Nové diery ends here, Horné diery begins, and the nature trail from Štefanová arrives. In summer there is usually a snack bar in a wooden hut; outside the season, do not count on it.

When the car park is full

• Arrive earlier in the morning, when there are also fewer people at the ladders.
• Drive on to Štefanová and enter the gorges from above.
• With a larger group, come in fewer cars to save both space and fees.

From Chata Ranto in Nižné Kamence it is just under five kilometres to Biely Potok, ten minutes by car, and eight kilometres to Štefanová, under twenty minutes. The yard at the house holds about ten cars, so it is easy to agree in the morning who drives whom.