Waldenburg Highlands
| Waldenburg Highlands / Wałbrzyskie Foothills | |
|---|---|
| German: Waldenburger Bergland; Polish: Pogórze Wałbrzyskie; Czech: Wałbrzyské hory | |
Wzgórze Sas in the Waldenburg Highlands | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Sas |
| Elevation | 515 |
| Geography | |
| Country | Poland |
| Voivodeship | Lower Silesian |
| Parent range | Sudetes |
The Waldenburg Highlands also translated as the Wałbrzyskie Foothills, is a region in south-western Poland, in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is treated as the northernmost part of the Central Sudetes.[1][2]
Geography
The Wałbrzych Highlands are surrounded by several mountain ranges: the Sudeten Foreland to the northeast, the Owl Mountains to the southeast, the Waldenburg Mountains to the southwest, the Kaczawskie Mountains to the west, and the Kaczawskie Foothills to the northwest. This area covers approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) in length, and 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) across.[3]
The Waldenburg Highlands lie to the north and north-east of Wałbrzych and extend from the Nysa Szalona valley in the northwest to the valley of the Bystrzyca in the southeast. The region descends towards the Fore-Sudetic Depression along the Sudetic Marginal Fault, which forms a marked landscape boundary on its north-eastern side.[4]
The highest point of the region is the summit of Sas (515 m), between Szczawno-Zdrój and Struga.[5]
Landscape
The Waldenburg Highlands are characterized by a rolling foothills landscape with rounded or flattened summits, gentle ridges, and a dense network of stream valleys. In places, erosion has created more deeply incised, gorge-like sections, especially in the valleys of the Pełcznica and nearby streams.[6]
The region belongs to the basin of the Oder. Its main rivers are the Strzegomka and the Nysa Szalona, both left-bank tributaries of the Oder; other streams of the highlands drain into these river systems.[4]
References
- ^ Solon, Jerzy; Borzyszkowski, Jan; Bidłasik, Małgorzata; et al. (2018). "Physico-geographical mesoregions of Poland: Verification and adjustment of boundaries on the basis of contemporary spatial data". Geographia Polonica. 91 (2): 143–170. doi:10.7163/GPol.0115. hdl:20.500.12128/9154. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ Walczak, Wojciech (1968). Sudety (in Polish). Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
- ^ "Pogórze Wałbrzyskie Lubachów" [Wałbrzych Foothills Lubachów - characteristics] (in Polish). Ładne Historie Foundation (The Mountains Connect Us project). 11 December 2025. Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ a b Czerski, Marek; Gawlikowska, Elżbieta; Koźma, Jacek; Lis, Józef; Pasieczna, Anna; Seifert, Krzysztof; Wołkowicz, Stanisław (2004). Objaśnienia do Mapy Geośrodowiskowej Polski 1:50,000. Arkusz Świdnica (798) (in Polish). Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Geologiczny.
- ^ Korona Sudetów Polskich (in Polish). PTTK Wałbrzych. 2021.
- ^ Przybylski, Bogusław; Cwojdziński, Stefan; Ihnatowicz, Adam (2016). Szczegółowa mapa geologiczna Sudetów 1:50,000. Arkusz Świdnica (798) (in Polish). Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Geologiczny – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy.