A road to Kráľova hoľa. (source: Monika Fizelova)
In the near future, Slovakia will have another attraction at its disposal to lure visitors from abroad. It’s even possible it could become the venue for international sporting events, reports the My Banská Bystrica website.
The route on the legendary Kráľova hoľa mountain in the Low Tatras, in the historic Horehronie region of central Slovakia, is now significantly closer to restoration, with the state set to contribute hundreds of thousands of euros towards this end, alongside support from the Banská Bystrica Region.
Popular peak will also be accessible to road cyclists
After the reconstruction of the route, Kráľova hoľa will become the highest accessible mountain in Slovakia for road cyclists. Currently, an approximately 11-kilometre road leads to it, but is in a deplorable condition.
Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains, including attractions on the Polish side.
Roughly half of the route up to the mountain hut under Kráľová hoľa consists of gravel. From there, an asphalt road leads to the top; however, it is full of holes that are difficult to navigate in some places.
Soon, however, this will be a thing of the past.
The nearby village of Šumiac requested a financial contribution for its reconstruction; the state is going to provide €800,000 to that end, with the village providing some amount of money as well.
One part at a time
According to Ondrej Lunter, governor of the Banská Bystrica Governor, they are interested in seeing Horehronie come to life and hope that the reconstructed cycling route will prove to be an impetus for the development of tourism in the historic region.
He clarified that the reconstruction will first concert the first, approximately six- kilometre-long section. The restoration of the asphalt road in the upper part of the mountain is planned in the future, but it should be financed from European funds and could start in 2026.
10,000 cyclists every month
The route to Kráľova hoľa is already very popular today. Thousands of cyclists ride it every month. However, it is currently not suitable for road bikes. This is not much of a problem as the village has several rental shops with electric bikes suitable for difficult terrain.
Cyclists, especially recreational ones, will enjoy riding them even during the winter, when the terrain is covered with snow. However, in winter only the first part of the route, up to the mountain hut, is available.
In addition, from the village you can also reach, for example, the Muránska planina plain.
The branching network of routes, accessible by bicycle, is a good basis for multi-day visits by tourists, which are extremely important for the development of tourism and the maintenance of local entrepreneurs in a region where large investors are modest.
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