The Gorce Mountains (Polish: Gorce) are part of the Western Beskids mountain in the southern Poland. They are situated in Małopolska Province, at the western tip of the long Carpathian range extending east beyond the Dunajec River for some 1,500 kilometres (930 mi). The Gorce are characterized by numerous ridges reaching in all directions for up to 40 kilometres (25 mi) east–west with a series of higher elevations cut by deep river valleys.
There are couple interesting peaks in Gorce moutains. The highest is Turbacz (1310) and Jaworzyna Kamienicka (1288 ), Kiczora (1282 m), Kudłoń (1276 m) Przysłop, Czoło and Gorc Kamienicki. The south-eastern ridge of the Gorce reaches the Pieniny range with Lubań peak (1,225 metres) as its tallest peak followed by Pasterski Wierch, Runek and Marszałek. The north-west ridges include Obidowiec, and the peak of Suhora (1,000 m) featuring an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Pedagogical University of Kraków.
There are a number of smaller caves in the Gorce, carved out in sedimentary rock and its conglomerates which form the Carpathian Flysch Belt. High annual rainfall is caused by the air forced up by the mountains and accumulating into clouds. Rain water flows fast in all directions due to dense ground and ground-cover; feeding the Raba river on the north-west side of the Gorce, and the Dunajec on the south-east side. Other rivers, formed by the mountains include the Kamienica (35 kilometres (22 mi) in length), the Ochotnica (24 kilometres (15 mi)) and the Porębianka (13 kilometres (8.1 mi)), as well as large streams such as the Turbacz, the Gorcowy and the Łopuszna among others. The main city is Nowy Targ on the Dunajec below in the valley of Podhale, with large recreational villages including Krościenko nad Dunajcem, Szczawa and Ochotnica.
