High Tatras

The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (Slovak: Vysoké Tatry; Polish: Tatry Wysokie; Rusyn: Высокі Татри, Vysoki Tatry; Hungarian: Magas-Tátra; German: Hohe Tatra), 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.

High Tatras
  • Vysoké Tatry
  • Tatry Wysokie
Panorama of High Tatras.
Peaks, from left to right: Gerlachovský štít, Batizovský štít, Kačací štít, Končistá, Gánok, Vysoká, and Rysy
Highest point
PeakGerlachovský štít, Slovakia
Elevation2,655 m (8,711 ft)
Coordinates49°10′N 20°08′E 
Geography
High Tatras
Location of the High Tatras in Slovakia and Poland
CountriesSlovakia and Poland
StatesPrešov Region and Lesser Poland Voivodeship
RegionsTatra National Park—Tatranský národný park (Slovakia) and Tatra National Park—Tatrzański Park Narodowy (Poland)
Parent rangeEastern Tatras

Description
Morskie Oko ("Sea Eye"), the largest lake in the Tatra mountains, is found at an elevation of 1,395m and is surrounded by peaks that rise about 1,000m above it.

The mountain range borders the Belianske Tatras to the east, the Podtatranská kotlina to the south, and the Western Tatras to the west. Most of the range, and all the highest peaks, are 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). 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.
Kriváň (2,495 metres), considered to be the symbol of Slovakia

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

PeakElevation (m|ft)
Gerlachovský štít 2,655 8,711
Gerlachovská veža 2,642 8,668
Lomnický štít 2,633 8,638
Ľadový štít 2,627 8,619
Pyšný štít 2,623 8,605
Zadný Gerlach 2,616 8,583
Lavínový štít 2,606 8,550
Malý Ľadový štít 2,602 8,537
Kotlový štít 2,601 8,533
Lavínová veža 2,600 8,530
Malý Pyšný štít 2,591 8,501
Veľká Litvorová veža 2,581 8 468
Strapatá veža 2,565 8,415
Kežmarský štít 2,556 8,386
Vysoká 2,547 8,356

Other notable peaks
  • Kriváň, 2494 meters, also called 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

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 halfway 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
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See also

References
  1. UNESCO preserves
  2. "Najvyššie pohoria Slovenska (Highest mountain ranges in Slovakia)" (in Slovak). Matej Lednár. 2003. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
  • "The Tatras: High, Western, Bela's" (1:50,000 hiking map); BBKart/Marco Polo; 2005.

Images
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