The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (; ; ,'' Vysoki Tatry''; ; ), 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 aris ...

along the border of northern

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 ...

in the

Prešov Region The Prešov Region (, ; ), also Priashiv Region (, ), is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 of which have town status. The region was established in 1996 and is the mos ...

, and southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

. They are a range of the Tatra Mountains chain.

Description

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 .

Biogeography

The High Tatras, having 29 peaks over

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

are, with the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ; ) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and ...

, the only mountain ranges with an alpine character and

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

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 and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

system. The first European cross-border

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, 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 (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

'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, funga, or features of geologic ...

. ;Fauna Many rare and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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 (biology), family Bovidae, and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine. Prominent members in ...

and

critically endangered species An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the ...

, the Tatra chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica''). Predators include Eurasian brown bear,

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...

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 ...

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

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

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the High Tatras includes: the

Tatra scurvy-grass (''Cochlearia tatrae''), yellow mountain saxifrage (''Saxifraga aizoides''), ground covering 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 clo ...

(''Picea abies''), Swiss pine (''Pinus cembra''), and European larch (''Larix decidua'').

Peaks

Highest peaks

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

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

Mountain lakes

Major lakes

* Slovak lakes **

Štrbské pleso Štrbské pleso (, , , or ) is a picturesque tarn (lake), mountain lake of glacial origin and a top tourist destination in the High Tatras, Slovakia. It is the second-largest glacial lake on the Slovak side of the High Tatras, after Veľké Hi ...

- 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, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukr ...

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

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 ** Kurtkowiec Lake - 1,686 m, 5 m deep. ** Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy - 1,624 m, 51 m deep. ** Zielony Staw Gąsienicowy - 1,672 m, 15 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 * By PKP ** Line 99 from: Chabówka to Zakopane

Culture

The area is well known for winter sports.

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 Am ...

s include

, Starý Smokovec and Tatranská Lomnica in Slovakia, and

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the 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 ...

in Poland. The town of

Poprad Poprad (; ; ) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. The largest town of the Spiš region and the largest of all towns in the vic ...

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) () as the highest summit of the Tatra Mountains, and the entire

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

Vysoké Tatry (town) 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 region. It was created in 1990, and its official name from 1990 to 1999 was ...

* Orla Perć — notable tourist mountain path/trail * Siklawa Falls — highest waterfall in Poland * Mickiewicz Falls * Black Lake Falls * 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