Veľká Fatra (; also Great Fatra or Greater Fatra; ) is 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 aris ...

in the Western Carpathians in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The Veľká Fatra lie to the southeast of the better known Malá (Lesser) Fatra mountains and are less developed, as well as being lower.

Geology

In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the

Fatra-Tatra Area The Fatra-Tatra Area (in geomorphology) or the Tatra-Fatra Belt of core mountains (in geology) is a part of the Inner Western Carpathians, a subprovince of the Western Carpathians. Most of the area lies in Slovakia with small parts reaching int ...

. It is situated approximately among the towns of Ružomberok, Harmanec, Turčianske Teplice and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

. The Turiec Basin and the Lesser Fatra mountains are situated to the north west of the range and the Low Tatras mountains are in the east. It can be divided into seven parts: ''Šípska Fatra, Šiprúň, Lysec, Hôľna Fatra, Revúcke podolie, Zvolen and Bralná Fatra''. The highest mountain is Ostredok at . Other notable summits of the largest ''Hôľna Fatra'' part are Krížna at and Ploská at , where the main ridge divides into two. The western Turiec Ridge () includes, for example,

Borišov Borišov is a mountain in the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring 1,508.5 m (4,949.1 ft). Its summit is deforested, covered in grass. On the southern side there is one of the largest avalanche slopes in Slovakia. The Borišov ...

at , and the eastern Liptov Ridge () includes, for example, Rakytov at . ''Bralná Fatra'' includes Tlstá at and Ostrá at summits. The Zvolen massif () connects the Veľká Fatra Range with the Low Tatra Range. One of the largest ski resorts in Slovakia - Skipark Ružomberok and Donovaly - lies beneath it. There are several other tourist and skiing resorts in the range. A considerable part of the range is made of various

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

rocks. The central part and the main ridge are made up of non-resistant rocks (

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

s) and the relief is softly modeled (Ploská, Ostredok). The southern and south-western part is formed by resistant

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and dolomite with rocky walls and reefs. The ridges are usually separated by canyon-like valleys. The most important ones are Gader Valley (''Gaderská dolina'') and Blatnica Valley (''Blatnická dolina''). The longest valley is the Ľubochňa Valley (''Ľubochnianska dolina'') at 25 km. Numerous

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

formations are located in this area and the Harmanec Cave is one of the best known caves in Slovakia.

Scenery

Nearly 90% of the area is covered by forests –

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

and beech-

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

forests, in some places replaced by

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

plantations and relics of

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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s. The area of Harmanec is the richest yew-tree site in Europe. The original natural upper borderline of forests was lowered during the Wallachian colonization. There are many extensive upland pastures, where cattle is raised in the summer.''Rough Guide to The Czech & Slovak Republics'' Rob Humphreys, Tim Nollen - 2003 - Page 489 "Hiking in the Velka Fatra : To the east of the Turiec valley lie the Velka Fatra, a line of craggy mountain tops surrounded by a sea of uninhabited, undulating forest. The ridge of brittle limestone peaks from Krizna (1574m) to Ploska (1532m), via the highest of the lot, Ostredok (1592m), is the most obvious area to aim for, but the thin craggy valleys leading up to the mountains are actually much more enthralling to walk along: the two most accessible and geologically exciting are the Gaderska dolina and the Blatnicka dolina." Most of the area was protected by the Veľká Fatra Protected Landscape Area since 1973, and the most valuable parts are included in the Veľká Fatra National Park since 2002. The rest of the former protected landscape area serves as a buffer zone now. The ruins of Blatnický and Sklabinský castles are located in this area. Also, the traditional architecture of Vlkolínec (a UNESCO's

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

) and Liptovské Revúce and the Ľubochňa and Turčianske Teplice spas can be found here.

Viewpoints

* Rakytov (1,567 m) * Krížna (1,574 m) - the best view of the southern mountains - Kremnické vrchy, Poľana, Vtáčnik * Tlstá (1,208 m) - view of Turiec basin

Gallery

File:Ploská - pano.JPG, Ploská File:Ostrá, Veľká Fatra (SVK) - Western Summit.jpg, Typical rocks of the Bralná Fatra File:Gaderská dolina, Greater Fatra (SVK) - from Blatnica castle ruin.jpg, Gader Valley File:Borišov,_Veľká_Fatra_(SVK)_-_view_from_Kračkov.jpg,

File:Ploská, Veľká Fatra (SVK) - view from under Kýšky.jpg, Ploská File:Kabínková lanovka Malinô - Brdo.jpg, Malinné ski resort File:Veľká Fatra - panorama.jpg, Panorama of Veľká Fatra File:Rakytov, Veľká Fatra (SVK) - southern side.jpg, Rakytov File:Cierny kamen.jpg, Čierny kameň

References

* *

References

External links

Veľká FatraHiking map of Veľká Fatra
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Military Cartographic Institute (VKÚ Harmanec)Another hiking map
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Velka Fatra Mountain ranges of Slovakia Mountain ranges of the Western Carpathians

Geology

Scenery

Viewpoints

Gallery

See also

References

References

External links