High Tatras

High Tatras
Vysoké Tatry
Panorama of High Tatras. Peaks, from left to right: Gerlachovský štít, Batizovský štít, Kačací štít, Končistá, Gánok, Vysoká, and Rysy
Highest point
Peak	Gerlachovský štít
Elevation	2,655 m (8,711 ft)
Coordinates	49°10′N 20°08′E / 49.167°N 20.133°E / 49.167; 20.133Coordinates: 49°10′N 20°08′E / 49.167°N 20.133°E / 49.167; 20.133
Geography
High Tatras Location of the High Tatras in Slovakia and Poland
Countries	Slovakia and Poland
States	Prešov Region and Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Regions	Tatra National Park—Tatranský národný park (Slovakia) and Tatra National Park—Tatrzański Park Narodowy (Poland)
Parent range	Eastern Tatras

The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (Slovak and Czech: Vysoké Tatry, Polish: Tatry Wysokie, Hungarian: Magas -Tátra), are a mountain range along the border of northern Slovakia in the Prešov Region, and southern Poland in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. They are a range of the Tatra Mountains chain.

Description

The mountain range borders Belianske Tatras to the east, Podtatranská kotlina to the south and Western Tatras to the west. The major part and all the highest peaks of the mountains are situated in Slovakia. The highest peak is Gerlachovský štít, at 2,655 metres (8,711 ft).

Natural history

The High Tatras, having 29 peaks over 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) AMSL are, with the Southern Carpathians, the only mountain ranges with an alpine character and habitats in the entire 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) length of the Carpathian Mountains system. The first European cross-border national park was founded here—Tatra National Park—with Tatra National Park (Tatranský národný park) in Slovakia in 1948, and Tatra National Park (Tatrzański Park Narodowy) in Poland in 1954. The adjacent parks protect UNESCO's trans-border Tatra Biosphere Reserve.^[1]

Fauna

Many rare and endemic animals and plant species are native to the High Tatras. They include the Tatras' endemic goat-antelope and critically endangered species, the Tatra chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica). Large predators include Eurasian brown bear, Eurasian lynx, marten, wolf and fox. The Alpine marmot is common in the range.

Flora

Flora of the High Tatras includes: the endemic Tatra scurvy-grass (Cochlearia tatrae), yellow mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoides), ground covering net-leaved willow (Salix reticulata), Norway spruce (Picea abies), Swiss pine (Pinus cembra), and European larch (Larix decidua).

Peaks

Highest peaks

The alpine character of the High Tatras attracts mountaineers.

The 15 highest peaks of the High Tatras—all located in Slovakia—are:^[2]

Other notable peaks

• Kriváň, 2494 meters, Slovakia's "most beautiful mountain"
• Rysy, the popular Polish−Slovak summit border crossing. Rysy has three peaks: the middle at 2,503 meters; the north-western at 2,499 meters; and the south-eastern at 2,473 meters. The north-western peak is the highest point of Poland.
• Slavkovský štít, 2452 meters tall, within the Tatra National Park, Slovakia

Panorama of the High Tatras from Poprad.

Mountain lakes

A High Tatras valley (dolina) with mountain lake.

Veľké Žabie pleso (Mengusovské) lake in Žabia Valley

Major lakes

• Morskie Oko - 1,395 m, 51 m deep.
• Czarny Staw pod Rysami - 1,583 m, 76 m deep.
• Wielki Staw Polski - 1,664 m, 79 m deep.
• Štrbské pleso - 1,347 m, 20 m deep.
• Veľké Hincovo pleso - 1,945 m, 54 m deep.
• Popradské pleso - 1,494 m, 17 m deep.

Other lakes

• Zmrzlé pleso
• Ťažké pleso
• Ľadové pleso
• Batizovské pleso
• Veľké Spišské pleso - 2,019 m, 10 m deep.
• Veľké Žabie pleso (Mengusovské) - 1,921 m, 7 m deep
• Vysne Bielovoeske Zabie pleso - 1,699 m, 25 m deep.
• Nizne Bielovodske Zabie pleso - 1,675 m, 21 m deep.
• Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy - 1,624 m, 51 m deep.

Mountain huts are common in the High Tatras, this one is half way up Lomnický štít.

1922 postcard of tourists in the High Tatras.

Culture

The area is well known for winter sports. Ski resorts include Štrbské pleso, Starý Smokovec and Tatranská Lomnica in Slovakia, and Zakopane in Poland. The town of Poprad is the gateway to the Slovak Tatra resorts.

People

The Górale people ("highlanders"), a group of indigenous people with a distinctive traditional culture, are of the High Tatras and other mountain ranges and valleys in the Tatra Mountains region.

Ludwig Greiner identified Gerlachovský štít (Gerlachovský Peak) (2,665 metres (8,743 ft)) as the highest summit of the Tatra Mountains, and the entire Carpathian Mountains system. It is also the highest point of Slovakia.

Places and services

• Vysoké Tatry (town)
• Orla Perć — tourist mountain path/trail.
• Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue (Poland)
• Mountain Rescue Service (Slovakia)

See also

• Tatra National Park, Poland
• Tatra National Park, Slovakia
• Tourism in Poland
• Tourism in Slovakia

References

• "The Tatras: High, Western, Bela's" (1:50,000 hiking map); BBKart/Marco Polo; 2005.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to High Tatra Mountains.

• UNESCO — Natural Reserves of Tatras Mountains
• Tatry.org: Tatry Open Directory
• Tatry.sk: Official town of High Tatry website
• TldTatry.sk: Tatra Cable Railways
• Summitpost.org: High Tatra Mountains
• High Tatra Mountains visualized in 3D

Images

• VysokeTatry.com— various maps of the High Tatras
• Butkaj.com: photos of villages in the High Tatras — after the 2004 storm calamity.