Kysuce Protected Landscape Area () is one of the 14 protected landscape areas 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 ...

. It is made of two separate parts, the Javorníky mountains in the west, and Kysucké Beskydy mountains in the east, in north-western Slovakia. It is situated in the

Čadca Čadca (; until 1918 Čatca, Czača, , ) is a district town in northern Slovakia, near the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. Etymology The name is derived from a word ''čad'' (smoke, soot; Proto-Slavic: ''čadъ'', Slovak/ Czech: ''ča ...

and Kysucké Nové Mesto districts, within the Kysuce region. It borders three other protected areas: the Beskydy Protected Landscape Area in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, Żywiec Landscape Park in

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 ...

and Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area in Slovakia.

History

The park was created on 23 May 1984. Protected areas declared before include Čierna Lutiša (1972), Veľká Rača (1976), Veľký Javorník (1967), and Vychylovské skálie (1983).Vychylovské skálie at enviroportal.sk
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Geography, geology and biology

More than half of the PLA's territory is covered by forests. Geologically, it is made of low-resistant

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

layers. Due to the

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

colonization, the area has a mosaic character, with alternating hamlets with original folk architecture, meadows, fields and forests. Curiosities of the region include crude oil spring near Korňa and mysterious sandstone balls. The area is near the westernmost border of area of great predators of Slovakia, such as the

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 ...

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

and

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

. A Carpathian endemic species living in the area is the Carpathian

newt A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...

Attractions

Attractions in the park include the Vychylovka (part of Nová Bystrica) switchback forest railway and Kysuce open-air museum.

References

External links

Kysuce PLA
a
Slovakia.travelOfficial Kysuce PLA website from the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic
{{Authority control Protected areas of Slovakia Protected areas established in 1984 Protected areas of the Western Carpathians Tourist attractions in Žilina Region Geography of Žilina Region