The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains ( Slovak: Vysoké Tatry; pl, Tatry Wysokie; rue, Высокі Татри,'' Vysoki Tatry''; hu, Magas-Tátra; german: Hohe Tatra; french: Hautes Tatras), are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

along the border of northern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in the

Prešov Region The Prešov Region, also Priashiv Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj, ; hu, Eperjesi kerület; uk, Пряшівський край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 o ...

, and southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). It was created on 1 ...

. They are a range of the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak language, Slovak () or in Polish language, Polish () - ''plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovak ...

chain.

Description

The mountain range borders the

Belianske Tatras , photo = Belianske Tatry from Jahňaci štít-captions sk.svg , photo_size = 250px , photo_caption = Muráň, Nový, Havran, Ždiarska Vidla peaks – beginning from the left , count ...

to the east, the

Podtatranská kotlina The Podtatranská kotlina (literally Sub-Tatra Basin or Basin under Tatra(s)) is a basin in northern Slovakia, part of the Fatra-Tatra Area, which belongs to the Inner Western Carpathians. Towns and cities include Ružomberok, Liptovský Mikulá ...

to the south, and the

Western Tatras Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

to the west. Most of the range, and all the highest peaks, are in Slovakia. The highest peak is

Gerlachovský štít Gerlachovský štít (, translated into English as ''Gerlachov Peak'', German: ''Gerlsdorfer Spitze'', Hungarian: ''Gerlachfalvi-csúcs''), informally referred to as Gerlach, is the highest peak in the High Tatras, in Slovakia, and in the Carpat ...

, at .

Biogeography

The High Tatras, having 29 peaks over

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

are, with the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ro, Carpații Meridionali ; hu, Déli-Kárpátok) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the P ...

, the only mountain ranges with an

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

character and

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s in the entire length of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

system. The first European cross-border

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

, Tatra National Park, was founded here with Tatra National Park (''Tatranský národný park'') in Slovakia in 1948, and Tatra National Park (''Tatrzański Park Narodowy'') in Poland in 1954. The contiguous parks protect

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's trans-border Tatra

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. ;Fauna Many rare and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

animals and plant species are native to the High Tatras. They include the Tatras' endemic

goat-antelope The subfamily Caprinae, also sometimes referred to as the tribe Caprini, is part of the ruminant family Bovidae, and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine, or, more informally, a goat-antelope (a ...

and critically endangered species, the

Tatra chamois The Tatra chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica''; sk, Kamzík vrchovský tatranský; pl, Kozica tatrzańska) is a subspecies of the chamois of the genus '' Rupicapra''. Tatra chamois live in the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia and Poland. Popula ...

(''Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica''). Predators include

Eurasian brown bear The Eurasian brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'') is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear, and is found in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European brown bear, common brown bear, common bear, and colloquially by many othe ...

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. The Alpine marmot is common in the range. ;Flora

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

of the High Tatras includes: the

Tatra scurvy-grass (''Cochlearia tatrae''),

yellow mountain saxifrage ''Saxifraga aizoides'', yellow mountain saxifrage or yellow saxifrage, is a flowering alpine plant of the genus ''Saxifraga''. Description ''Saxifraga aizoides'' is an evergreen perennial plant, perennial which branches at or below ground leve ...

(''Saxifraga aizoides''),

ground cover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...

ing net-leaved willow (''Salix reticulata''),

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

(''Picea abies''),

Swiss pine ''Pinus cembra'', also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine or Arolla pine or Austrian stone pine or just stone pine, is a species of a pine tree in the subgenus ''Strobus''. Description The Swiss pine is a member of the white pine group ...

(''Pinus cembra''), and

European larch ''Larix decidua'', the European larch, is a species of larch native to the mountains of central Europe, in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains as well as the Pyrenees, with disjunct lowland populations in northern Poland and southern Lithuania. It ...

(''Larix decidua'').

Peaks

Highest peaks

The 15 highest peaks of the High Tatras—all located in Slovakia—are:

Other notable peaks

Kriváň Kriváň can refer to: * Kriváň (peak), peak in the High Tatras, Slovakia * Veľký Kriváň, the highest peak in Malá Fatra, Slovakia * Kriváň (village) Kriváň ( hu, Krivány) is a village and municipality in Detva District, in the Bansk� ...

, 2494 meters, also called Slovakia's "most beautiful mountain" *

Rysy Rysy (; ; german: Meeraugspitze, hu, Tengerszem-csúcs) is a mountain in the crest of the High Tatras, eastern part of the Tatra Mountains, lying on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Rysy has three summits: the middle at ; the north-wester ...

, 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 Tatra(s) National Park ( sk, Tatranský národný park; abbr. TANAP) is one of the nine national parks in Slovakia. It is situated in North Central Slovakia in the Tatra Mountains. The park is important for protecting a diverse variety of flora ...

Mountain lakes

Major lakes

* Slovak lakes **

Štrbské pleso Štrbské pleso (, german: Tschirmer See, pl, Szczyrbskie jezioro, hu, Csorbató or ) is a picturesque mountain lake of glacial origin and a top tourist destination in the High Tatras, Slovakia. It is the second-largest glacial lake on the Sl ...

- 1,347 m, 20 m deep. ** Popradské pleso - 1,494 m, 17 m deep. **

Veľké Hincovo pleso Veľké Hincovo pleso is the biggest and deepest mountain lake of glacial origin in the High Tatras, Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in C ...

- 1,945 m, 54 m deep. * Polish lakes **

Morskie Oko Morskie Oko, or Eye of the Sea in English, is the largest and fourth-deepest lake in the Tatra Mountains, in southern Poland. It is located deep within the Tatra National Park in the Rybi Potok (the Fish Brook) Valley, of the High Tatras mountai ...

- 1,395 m, 51 m deep. **

Czarny Staw pod Rysami Czarny Staw pod Rysami (Black Lake below Mount Rysy) is a mountain lake on the Polish side of Mount Rysy in the Tatra mountains. At 1,583 m above sea level, it overlooks the nearby lake of Morskie Oko. Its maximum depth is 76 m. A walking path c ...

- 1,583 m, 76 m deep. ** Wielki Staw Polski - 1,664 m, 79 m deep.

Other lakes

* Slovak 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 ** Vyšné Bielovodské Žabie pleso - 1,699 m, 25 m deep. ** Nižné Bielovodské Žabie pleso - 1,675 m, 21 m deep. * Polish lakes ** Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy - 1,624 m, 51 m deep.

Transport

* By TEŽ ** Line : ''from'': Štrbské Pleso - ''to'': Poprad-Tatry ** Line : ''from'': Starý Smokovec - ''to'': Tatranská Lomnica * By OŽ ** Line : ''from'': Štrbské Pleso - ''to'': Štrba * By ŽSR ** Line : ''from'': Tatranská Lomnica - ''to'': Studený Potok or ''from'': Poprad-Tatry - ''to'': Plaveč

Culture

The area is well known for

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...

Ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s include

, Starý Smokovec and

Tatranská Lomnica Tatranská Lomnica (; hu, Tátralomnic, pl, Tatrzańska Łomnica) is a part of the town of Vysoké Tatry in northern Slovakia in the Tatras The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - ''plura ...

in Slovakia, and

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

in Poland. The town of

Poprad Poprad (; hu, Poprád; german: Deutschendorf) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the ten ...

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 Ludwig Greiner (1796–1882) was an influential 19th-century forest and lumber industry management expert who improved the effectiveness of woodland valuation methods in the Austrian Empire and trained a whole new generation of foresters in a comp ...

identified Gerlachovský štít (Gerlachovský Peak) () as the highest summit of the

, and the entire

system. It is also the highest point of Slovakia. ;Places and services *

Vysoké Tatry (town) Vysoké Tatry (; hu, Magastátra, ; german: Höhe Tatra, ; pl, Wysokie Tatry, ; cs, Vysoké Tatry, ), formally Mesto Vysoké Tatry () is a town at the feet of the Slovak part of High Tatras in Slovakia including all the major resorts in that ...

Orla Perć Orla Perć (English: ''Eagle's Path'') is a tourist path in the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland. It is considered one of most difficult and dangerous public paths in the entire Tatras (an equivalent to Grade 2 Scramble) and is therefore a su ...

— ''tourist mountain path/trail''. * Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue (Poland) * Mountain Rescue Service (Slovakia)

References

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

External links

UNESCO — Natural Reserves of Tatras Mountains

Tatry.org: Tatry Open Directory

Tatry.sk: Official town of High Tatry website

TldTatry.sk: Tatra Cable Railways

High Tatra Mountains visualized in 3D

3D scan of Lomnický peak, one of the highest mountain peaks in the High Tatras mountains.

Images

Butkaj.com: photos of villages in the High Tatras
— ''after the 2004 storm calamity''. {{Authority control . Tatras, High Tatras, High Tatras, High Tatras, High Tatras, High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains