--- title: "The source of the Kysuca below Hričovec near Makov" description: "The Kysuca rises below Hričovec above Makov at 915 m. Find the way to it and see how the river runs on through Kysuce to the Váh." url: "https://zpusteven.cz/en/pramen-kysuce" lang: "en" latitude: 49.340964 longitude: 18.4120794 --- ![A log shelter with a pitched roof over the spring in a light-filled wood, a wooden information panel beside it and a stone channel carrying the water away](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/pramen-kysuce/1280/DJI_0944.avif) River source • the Javorníky • Makov • 915 m a.s.l. # The source of the Kysuca It rises a few steps from the ridge above Makov that divides two river basins. The Kysuca heads for the Váh. - **Altitude of the source:** 915 m a.s.l. - **Length of the river:** 65.6 km to the Váh - **Basin:** 1,038 km² - **Mouth:** the Váh at Žilina ## The first metres of a large river Above the U Jaši settlement at Makov, water comes out of the slope below the hill Hričovec - the water **the whole region is named after**. Sixty-five kilometres on, at Žilina, it becomes a tributary of the Váh. On the way it passes through Turzovka, Čadca and Kysucké Nové Mesto and takes in twenty-seven tributaries. ![Looking inside the log shelter: a pipe projecting from a beam with water running from it into a stone channel, a carved board and a wooden box above it](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/pramen-kysuce/1280/IMG_7168.avif) The source itself: a pipe, a channel and water. Above it a carved board and a box with the visitors' book. Why come here ### You see the very beginning of a river The outflow is led into a pipe: the water falls from it into a stone channel, and a few steps lower it is a brook. **This water has 65.6 kilometres to go to the Váh.** When to come ### Any time; it is a short walk through wood From Sedlo pod Lemešnou it is **1.5 km and about 180 metres of ascent**, roughly 45 minutes' walk. The path goes through wood. What not to miss ### The visitors' book at the outflow Under the roof hangs **a carved board reading Pramen Kysuce**, the source of the Kysuca, and beside it a wooden box with a visitors' book. ![The log roof over the spring from the side in the wood, a wooden nature-trail panel beside it, the stony outflow channel below](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/pramen-kysuce/1280/IMG_7171.avif) ![A low view along the stony channel up to the roof and the information panel among the trees](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/pramen-kysuce/1280/IMG_7180.avif) ## The story of the source of the Kysuca and of timber rafting Three brooks come out of the slope above Makov. The main one gave the Kysuce region its name. Timber was floated down its water. Which spring is the right one ### Three brooks, one winner In the Hričovec nature reserve above the U Jaši settlement, three brooks rise close together. Which of them is the true source of the Kysuca was long argued over. The most abundant one won - **it rises at 915 metres** on the flank of the hill Hričovec (1,062 m a.s.l.). The outflow is covered today by **a log shelter with a pitched roof**. The water of the spring falls from a pipe into a stone channel and runs away as a brook. Under the roof there is also a carved board reading Pramen Kysuce and a box with a visitors' book. **A nature trail of 2016** leads to the spring, with four panels and benches by the carver Jozef Šimek. A walk comes up here every year for **the feast of Saints Peter and Paul**. ![A carved wooden board with a female figure in a crown and the words Pramen Kysuce, a horseshoe nailed below the inscription; a small wooden box with a door on the left](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/pramen-kysuce/1280/IMG_7165.avif) The winner of the three brooks. The watershed and the way to the Váh ### A few hundred metres decide which way the river will run The same ridge that carries the hill Hričovec runs on above [Makov](https://zpusteven.cz/en/makov) - and exactly where the state border runs today lies a watershed. Rain that falls on the south-eastern side gathers in the Javorníky and runs off into the Kysuca, and from there into the Váh. Water on the north-western side of the ridge - a few hundred metres away - runs down into the [Bečva](https://zpusteven.cz/en/roznovska-becva), which rises on the opposite slope of Vysoká, the highest mountain of the Vsetínské vrchy. From there it runs on into the Morava and the Danube. Water from the two sides of the ridge meets again, but only in the Danube, hundreds of kilometres away. Before that the Kysuca makes its own way - through Turzovka, Čadca and Kysucké Nové Mesto to its confluence with the Váh at Žilina. A diagram of the boundary between two river basins: from one side of the ridge the water runs into the Bečva, from the other into the Kysuca. 1. 0 km ### The source above the U Jaši settlement Makov • 915 m a.s.l. • the Hričovec nature reserve The most abundant of the three brooks at Makov. The water rises below the hill Hričovec (1,062 m a.s.l.) and heads east from the start, into the Makov valley. 2. The first few kilometres ### Makov - the westernmost village of Kysuce The village came into being in 1895 The village, formed in 1895 by joining parts of seven settlements, already lies on the stream flowing from the source of the Kysuca. From here the river turns north-east and follows the valley. 3. Between two ranges ### Turzovka The Javorníky on the right, the Kysuce Beskids on the left The valley of the Kysuca separates two ranges: the Javorníky on the right hand, the Kysuce Beskids on the left. The river runs north-east between them as far as Čadca. 4. The turn ### Čadca - the river turns south The valley carries the railway and an international road At Čadca the Kysuca changes direction and heads south. From that point its valley is the main transport axis of the region - the railway and an international road run along it. In the rafting days the Strečno estate had a timber depot here. 5. The lower course ### Kysucké Nové Mesto A landscape of weirs On the lower course stood a system of low weirs belonging to the Budatín estate - at Kysucký Lieskovec, Nové Mesto, Povina and Radoľa. They raised the level artificially so that a raft could pass even over the shallows. 6. 65.6 km ### The confluence with the Váh at Žilina At Budatín • the end of the journey Below Budatín the Kysuca merges with the Váh and ends as a river of its own. The Váh carries its water to the Danube. The water of the Bečva, running down the other side of the ridge above Makov, reaches the Danube too, by way of the Morava - from there both go on to the Black Sea. The course of the Kysuca in outline From its source to the Váh the Kysuca covers 65.6 km through Turzovka, Čadca and Kysucké Nové Mesto. The river as a road ### Timber went down the Kysuca. They waited for rain The Kysuca is shallow and its bed is stony - there was not the water here for the large rafts tied together on the Váh. The Kysuce raftsmen therefore built **half-rafts**: logs tied firmly only at the front and only along the edges at the back. And above all they waited. The raft lay on the bank and waited for the spring thaw or a good downpour. When the river rose, the raftsmen launched the rafts quickly and let the current carry them - each was steered by two of them, the more experienced at the front with an oar, the less experienced at the back. So that timber could be moved outside the floods as well, **weirs** were built on the river - low wooden structures reinforced with stone and filled with earth, which raised the water level artificially. The Budatín estate had a whole system of them at Kysucký Lieskovec, Kysucké Nové Mesto, Povina and Radoľa. High water took them regularly, though, so they had to be repaired almost without a break. - **from the source to the Váh:** 65.6 km - **tributaries flow into the Kysuca on the way:** 27 - **area of the basin:** 1,038 km² #### The end of the journey was the worst On the way the raftsmen had to watch for boulders in the channel - a collision risked damaging the raft or running it aground. The greatest danger, though, waited at the confluence with the Váh. When the Kysuca was in flood a step formed there - the surfaces of the two rivers met at different heights, and on that sudden drop a raft would pitch over and capsize. More than one raftsman lost his life here. Rafting ended with the railway and with the dams on the Váh. Visit ## How to reach the source ### Where exactly it is #### A wooded slope below the hill Hričovec The source lies in the Hričovec nature reserve above the U Jaši settlement, on the Slovak side of the ridge. The last stretch follows a nature trail on the yellow waymarks. ##### Otevřít v mapách [Mapy.com](https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?x=18.4120794&y=49.340964&z=17&source=coor&id=18.4120794,49.340964) · [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=49.340964,18.4120794) ##### Nearby [Brest u Papají](https://zpusteven.cz/en/brest-u-papaji) · [Chapel on Kršlisko](https://zpusteven.cz/chapel-on-krslisko) · [The Kasárne settlement](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne) · [The Greguše settlement](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-greguse) · [Veľký Javorník](https://zpusteven.cz/en/velky-javornik) · [The Partisan](https://zpusteven.cz/partisan-memorial-makov) · [The Tripoint](https://zpusteven.cz/en/trojmezi) · [Stratenec](https://zpusteven.cz/en/stratenec) Map of the area ### How to get here The starting point is **Sedlo pod Lemešnou** on the road from Velké Karlovice to Makov. The whole walk to the source is about 1.5 km, climbs 180 metres and takes roughly 45 minutes. 1. 1 #### Sedlo pod Lemešnou Parking by the memorial • start on the red route You leave the car on the meadow by the memorial. The nearest stop is “Makov, Kopanice, križovatka”, roughly 2 km away; you will find current connections in [CP.sk](https://cp.sk/vlakbusmhd/spojenie/). 2. 2 #### The Pod Soliskom signpost Change from the red route to the yellow The red waymarks bring you to the Pod Soliskom signpost. From there you carry on along the yellow route - the last fifteen minutes or so to the source. 3. #### The source of the Kysuca Destination • 915 m a.s.l. A shelter with the outflow, a board with the visitors' book and the information panel of the nature trail. You come back the same way. ### What to know before you go #### Time and ascent **From Sedlo pod Lemešnou 1.5 km one way, 180 metres of ascent.** About 45 minutes' walk. Back the same way. #### Nearest facilities The outflow is led into a **shelter with benches**. Refreshments and toilets are down in Makov. #### The ground A forest path with roots and stones, in places after logging. **Stout footwear pays off**, especially after rain. #### The walk to the source A **walk to the source is held every year for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul**. Na závěr ## Doplňující info a test znalostí ### Rychlá rekapitulace **What does the Kysuca flow into?** Into the Váh - after 65.6 km, on the edge of Žilina at Budatín. **At what altitude does the source rise, and where exactly?** At 915 m a.s.l., below the hill Hričovec (1,062 m a.s.l.) above the U Jaši settlement at Makov. **Why does this water run to the Váh and not into the Bečva?** The ridge above Makov is a watershed. Water from one side runs down into the Bečva and on into the Morava and the Danube, water from the other into the Kysuca and on into the Váh - the two rivers meet only in the Danube. **Where do people walk to the source from, and how long is the walk?** From Sedlo pod Lemešnou on the road from Velké Karlovice to Makov - 1.5 km, 180 metres of ascent, roughly 45 minutes along a nature trail. --- Source: [The source of the Kysuca below Hričovec near Makov](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pramen-kysuce) - zPusteven.cz. When citing, please link to the page.