SNP Heroes Trail
Cesta hrdinov SNP
Slovakia's national trail, running from Devín Castle on the Danube to the Dukla Pass on the Polish border along the mountain spine of the country.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Devín Castle
- Ends in
- Dukla Pass
- Length
- 769 km
- On foot
- 21–28 days
- Countries
Slovakia
About the trail
The Cesta hrdinov SNP, the Trail of the Heroes of the Slovak National Uprising, honours the 1944 revolt against the Nazi-aligned Slovak state. It starts below the ruins of Devín Castle, where the Morava meets the Danube, and ends at the Dukla Pass in the north-east, the scene of heavy fighting in the autumn of 1944.
Between the two the trail keeps mostly to high ground: the Little Carpathians above Bratislava, the long grassy ridge of the Low Tatras, the Slovak Ore Mountains and the wooded hills of the east. It is the Slovak section of the European long-distance path E8, and on the main ridges walkers sleep in mountain huts and simple shelters.
The Slovak Tourist Club (KST) gives a length of 769 km and advises allowing at least three to four weeks. Since 1984 the club has awarded a badge for completing the route, which can be walked at any time of year; the waymarks are red and white stripes.