Slovak Paradise National Park ( sk, Národný park Slovenský raj) is one of the nine national parks in

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 ...

, situated in East Slovakia. The National Park protects the area of the

Slovak Paradise Slovak Paradise ( sk, Slovenský raj) is a mountain range in eastern Slovakia. It is a part of the Spiš-Gemer Karst, which in turn is a part of the Slovak Ore Mountains, a major subdivision of the Western Carpathians. It is located between th ...

mountain range, which is located in the north of the

Slovenské rudohorie The Slovak Ore Mountains ( sk, Slovenské rudohorie , hu, Gömör–Szepesi-érchegység, german: Slowakisches Erzgebirge or Zips-Gemer-Erzgebirge) are an extensive mountain range within the Carpathian Mountains, located mostly in Slovakia's S ...

Mountains (Slovak Ore Mountains). The National Park covers an area of 197.63 km² (76.3 mi²), and the buffer zone around the park covers an area of 130.11 km² (50.2 mi²); 327.74 km² together. Eleven national nature reserves and eight nature reserves are situated in the park. The park offers about 300 km of

hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

, often equipped with ladders, chains and bridges. The Slovak Paradise contains about 350 caves, but only

Dobšiná Ice Cave Dobšiná Ice Cave ( sk, Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa; hu, Dobsinai-jégbarlang) is an ice cave in Slovakia, near the mining town of Dobšiná in the Slovak Paradise. Since 2000 it has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage list as a part of ...

, which is since 2000 a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, is open to the public. The headquarters of the park are located in Spišská Nová Ves.

Park creation and history

The first protected reserve in the area of the Slovak Paradise was founded in 1890. The first protected plant was the

edelweiss EDELWEISS (Expérience pour DEtecter Les WIMPs En Site Souterrain) is a dark matter search experiment located at the Modane Underground Laboratory in France. The experiment uses cryogenic detectors, measuring both the phonon and ionization signal ...

in 1936. The name ''Slovenský raj'' first appeared in 1921 in the ''Krásy Slovenska'' magazine and replaced many names used until that period. On 21 August 1964 the first protected landscape area in Slovakia was established in the Slovak Paradise. The area was recategorized into a national park on 18 January 1988. In 2000

became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parts of the park also belong to the Natura 2000 network since 2004.

Geography

The National Park is situated in the

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region ( sk, Banskobystrický kraj, ; hu, Besztercebányai kerület, ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest region by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystric ...

(district of

Brezno Brezno (; 1927–1948 ''Brezno nad Hronom'', german: Bries or ''Briesen'', hu, Breznóbánya) is a town in central Slovakia with a population of around 21,000. Geography Brezno is located within the Horehronské podolie basin. Brezno lies betw ...

), Prešov Region (district 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 t ...

) and

Košice Region The Košice Region ( sk, Košický kraj, , hu, Kassai kerület; uk, Кошицький край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It c ...

(districts of

Rožňava Rožňava ( hu, Rozsnyó, german: Rosenau, Latin: ''Rosnavia'') is a town in Slovakia, approximately by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,182. The town is an economic and tourist centre of the Gemer. Rožňava ...

and

Spišská Nová Ves Spišská Nová Ves (; hu, Igló; german: (Zipser) Neu(en)dorf) is a town in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The town is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest tow ...

). The Slovak Paradise creates the northern part of the Spiš-Gemer Karst (''Spišsko-gemerský kras''). It is bordered by the

Low Tatras The Low Tatras or Low Tatra ( sk, Nízke Tatry; hu, Alacsony-Tátra) is a mountain range of the Inner Western Carpathians in central Slovakia. It is located south of the Tatras proper, from which it is separated by the valleys of the Vá ...

(''Nízke Tatry'') in the west, central part of the

Mountains in the south ( Stolické vrchy and Volovské vrchy) and the Hornád basin (''Hornádska kotlina'') in the north and north east. Rivers and streams have formed many gorges, canyons, valleys, caves, and waterfalls in the Slovak Paradise, with the

Hornád Hornád ( Slovak, ) or Hernád ( Hungarian, ) is a river in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary. It is a tributary to the river Slaná (Sajo). The source of the Hornád is the eastern slopes of Kráľova hoľa hill, south of Šuňava. ...

River being most important to the area. The core of the national park is a karst plateau cut into several smaller plateaux by deep rocky gorges. The most famous gorges are ''Veľký Sokol'', which is also the longest at 4.5 km, ''Suchá Belá'', ''Piecky'', and ''Kyseľ'', all of which have numerous waterfalls. ''Prielom Hornádu'' is the longest canyon at 11,7 km, and also contains the greatest diversity of species. The highest waterfall is ''Závojový vodopád'' (literally Veil Waterfall) at 70 m. The largest water reservoir is ''Palcmanská Maša'', finished in 1956, which covers an area of 0.85 km². It is used for swimming, water sports, fishing and other recreational activities. The highest peak is ''Predná hoľa'', at 1,545m AMSL. ''Havrania skala'' (literally “raven rock”), at 1,153m, offers a panoramic view. A rock shelf known as ''Tomášovský výhľad'' is popular (with both climbers and visitors) for its unique view, situated at 680m. The lowest point is at the Hornád's surface at 470m.

Geology

The geological formation of the Slovenský raj mountains is rather complicated. The majority of the territory is built by two basic units. The small, western one is the Bebrava unit separated from the eastern, larger Northern Gemer unit by the Muráň fault. Both of them are comparatively homogeneous, as the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks such as dolomite and sandstone prevail. As they were built by carbonate rock prone to karstification, the character of the Slovenský raj mountains is that of a karstic plateau. The relatively flat and rather short mountains of the Slovenský raj mountains were lifted up in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. This caused the local river network to erode and create narrow and deep valleys.

Biology and ecology

The Slovak Paradise has the highest concentration of butterflies in Slovakia, with 6.06 butterflies per km², of more than 2100 varied species. These fall into the greater 4000 species of

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

at the park, along with 400 species of bugs and 150 species of

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

. ''Kopanecké lúky'' (literally Kopanecké meadows) contains exceptionally rich biodiversity in

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

, with over 75 species in one m² area.

Vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

are represented by about 200 species, of which 130 are protected. One of the few European snake species is present here, the

European adder ''Vipera berus'', the common European adderMallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. . or common European viper,Stidworthy J. (1974). ...

; despite its venomous bite (and potential seriousness if left untreated), this snake generally avoids humans and large animals, only striking if provoked. Forty species of

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...

are present, including the

European 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 ot ...

, red fox,

grey 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 ...

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 ...

European wildcat The European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') is a small wildcat species native to continental Europe, Scotland, Turkey and the Caucasus. It inhabits forests from the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Central and Eastern Europe to the Caucasus. Its fur i ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

European fallow deer The European fallow deer (''Dama dama''), also known as the common fallow deer or simply fallow deer, is a species of ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. It is historically native to Turkey and possibly the Italian Peninsula, Bal ...

, Alpine chamois, European wild boar,

marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, ...

and marten. The National Park is home to 65 endangered species, including the

saker falcon The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia ...

European otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of th ...

and

European ground squirrel The European ground squirrel (''Spermophilus citellus''), also known as the European souslik, is a species from the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is among the few European species in the genus '' Spermophilus''. Like all squirrels, it is a memb ...

. Forests cover 90% of the park. The most widespread trees are the beech, spruce, fir and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

. The park is home to 930 species of plants, of which 35 are protected. It contains six

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 else ...

plants, which are exclusively native to the immediate area, and 19 endemic plants native to the general

West Carpathians The Western Carpathians are a mountain range and geomorphological province that forms the western part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain belt stretches from the Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of Poland wit ...

Tourism

The best known tourist centres and resorts are ''Čingov'' and ''Podlesok'' in the north,

Dedinky Dedinky ( hu, Imrikfalva) is a village and municipality in the Rožňava District in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1386. Geography The village lies at an altitude of 795 ...

in the south and the only tourist centre located inside the National Park, ''Kláštorisko'', with ruins of the

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

. The most visited places in the park are

and the ''Suchá Belá'' Gorge. The park offers about 300 km of hiking trails and several bike trails. One of the most visited routes is "Prielom Hornádu". In the northern part of the Slovak Paradise two main tourist centres of this region are situated: Čingov and Podlesok. They are connected by a 15 km long marked route, leading through the canyon along the Hornád river.

References

External links

Slovak Paradise National Park at Slovakia.travelSlovak Paradise National Park
{{authority control National parks of Slovakia Protected areas of the Western Carpathians Geography of Banská Bystrica Region Geography of Prešov Region Geography of Košice Region

Protected areas established in 1988 Tourist attractions in Banská Bystrica Region Tourist attractions in Prešov Region Tourist attractions in Košice Region