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Recent years brought some new cave explorations in that area. All the significant achievements were the outcome of long, sometimes lasting for many years, conceptual and field work. The exploration activity was concentrated in Wielka Śnieżna - the longest and deepest Polish cave (the Czerwone Wierchy massif; see articles by Mateja and Wierzbowski and by Bolek). The total length of the cave exceeds 22 000 m.
Another interesting discoveries were achieved in Śnieżna Studnia and Studnia w Kazalnicy Miętusiej by cavers from Zakopane, in Ptasia Studnia by cavers from Nowy Sącz and in Kozia by cavers from Kraków. There were also other significant though smaller finds in a number of Tatra caves.


Pieniny Klippen Belt, Kramnica Klippe, ph. Janusz Baryła
The deepest caves in the Tatra Mts.
Cave Location Vertical extent
Jaskinia Wielka Śnieżna Czerwone Wierchy, Małołączniak 814 m (- 807; + 7)
Śnieżna Studnia Czerwone Wierchy, Małołączniak 763 m (- 726; + 37)
Jaskinia Bańdzioch Kominiarski Kominiarski Wierch 562 m (- 546; + 16)
Jaskinia Wysoka - Za Siedmiu Progami Czerwone Wierchy, Ciemniak 435 m (- 288; + 147)
Jaskinia Kozia Czerwone Wierchy, Kozi Grzbiet 389 m (- 376; + 13)
Ptasia Studnia Czerwone Wierchy, Kozi Grzbiet 379 m (- 352; + 27)
Jaskinia Czarna Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Kościeliska 304 m (- 242; + 42)
Jaskinia Miętusia Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Miętusia ca. 300 m (- 260; + 22)
Studnia w Kazalnicy Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Miętusia 240 m (- 199; + 41)
Jaskinia Zimna Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Kościeliska 176 m (- 16 m, + 160)

 
The longest caves in the Tatra Mts.
Cave Location Vertical extent
Jaskinia Wielka Śnieżna Czerwone Wierchy, Małołączniak ca. 22 000 m
Jaskinia Wysoka - Za Siedmiu Progami Czerwone Wierchy, Ciemniak 11 660 m
Jaskinia Miętusia Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Miętusia ca. 10 500 m
Jaskinia Bańdzioch Kominiarski Kominiarski Wierch 9 550 m
Śnieżna Studnia Czerwone Wierchy, Małołączniak 8 166 m
Jaskinia Czarna Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Kościeliska ca. 6 500 m
Ptasia Studnia Czerwone Wierchy, Kozi Grzbiet ca. 6 000 m
Jaskinia Zimna Czerwone Wierchy, Dolina Kościeliska 4 250 m
Jaskinia Kozia Czerwone Wierchy, Kozi Grzbiet 3 550 m
Jaskinia Kasprowa Niżnia Kopa Magury, Dolina Kasprowa ca. 3 000 m

The intensification of diving activity in the caves of the Tatra Mts. should also be mentioned. Several caves (e.g., Wielka Śnieżna, Miętusia, Bystra and Zimna) became goals of cave divers (see article by Bolek).
All Tatra caves are situated in the Tatrzański National Park and caving activities is strictly limited by the authorities. Only six caves are open for tourists. For visiting other caves special permission is demanded.

The Pieniny Klippen Belt (Pieniński pas skałkowy)

In this area resistant Mesozoic limestones build up isolated klippen surrounded by non-karst rocks. There are more than 80 caves in this area. Although all the caves are situated in limestones the majority of them are of non-karst (pseudokarst) origin. The longest cave is Jaskinia w Ociemnem, which is 196 m long and 47.5 m deep.

The Beskidy Mts.(Beskidy)

The Beskidy Mts. are built of Cretaceous-Paleogene flysch-type sandstones and mudstones. There are known more than 630 caves, but all of them are of non-karst (pseudokarst) origin and are situated in sandstones. They developed due to slope processes, mainly landslides. The longest cave is Jaskinia w Trzech Kopcach (900 m) (the Beskid Sądecki Mts.) and the deepest is Diabla Dziura w Bukowcu (-42 m) (the Pogórze Rożnowskie hills).

The Kraków - Wieluń Upland (Wyżyna Krakowsko-Wieluńska)

This is the largest karst region in Poland. It occupies about 2500 km2. Nowadays there are more than 1700 known caves in this area. Almost all of them are developed in Upper Jurassic limestones. Only a few are situated n Lower Carboniferous limestones and Middle Triassic limestones and dolomites. Jaskinia Wierna, which was explored in 1990 is the longest cave in the Kraków - Wieluń Upland. It is about 1020 m long. The caves of this area are mainly horizontally developed, the deepest is Jaskinia Studnisko -83 m deep. Some caves are situated inside protected areas (i.e., the Ojcowski National Park and the Jurassic Landscape Parks). The access to these caves requires special permission. Five caves are open for tourists and four of them are lit by electricity (see article by Wiśniewski).

The Silesian Upland (Wyżyna Śląska)

This area is built mainly of Middle Triassic carbonates. A few dozen caves are known in that area. They are rather small. None of them exceeds the length of 100 m. The majority of the caves were opened during quarrying. Some of them were afterwards destroyed due to exploitation progress.


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