Malá Fatra (; also Little Fatra or Lesser 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 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 w ...

in the north-west of Central

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 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 ...

.Craig Stephen Cravens ''Culture And Customs of the Czech Republic And Slovakia'' 2006 Page 3 "Two smaller ranges forming part of the Tatras are the Malá Fatra and the Vel'ká Fatra. Another popular region for outdoor enthusiasts is Slovenský Raj, literally Slovak Paradise, an area of exceptional natural beauty, and of rare flora and fauna." It is situated approximately halfway between the localities of Nitrianske Pravno, Strečno,

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 ...

and Zázrivá.

Turčianska kotlina The Turiec Basin (; ; ; ) is located in the northern part of central Slovakia, within the Fatra-Tatra Area of the Inner Western Carpathians. The basin is delimited by the mountain ranges of Veľká Fatra to the east, Malá Fatra to the west and ...

(Turiec Basin) and the Oravská vrchovina mountains are situated to the west of the range, and Žilinská kotlina (Žilina Basin) and the Kysucká vrchovina mountains arw located to the east. Malá Fatra consists of two subdivisions separated by the

Váh The Váh (; , ; ; Wag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (''in Geograph ...

river near Strečno: Lúčanská Malá Fatra and Krivánska Malá Fatra. The highest peak is Veľký Kriváň at 1,709 m

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 ...

in Krivánska Malá Fatra. Malá Fatra is basically one large

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 ...

feature. It is made up of

crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...

rocks and complexes of

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 ...

strongly folded rocks. The main peaks of Lúčanská Malá Fatra are Veľká Lúka (1,475 m), Kľak (1,351 m) and Minčol (1,364). The main peaks of the Krivánska Malá Fatra are Veľký Rozsutec (1,610 m), Malý Rozsutec (1,343 m), Veľký Kriváň (1,709 m) and Malý Kriváň (1,671 m). The 12 km long pass between Krivánska Malá Fatra and Lúčanská Malá Fatra separated by the Váh is called ''Strečnianska tiesňava'' (Strečno Pass), located below the ruins of

Strečno Castle The Strečno Castle ()(also called Strechun, Strechyn, Streczen, Streczan alebo Strežín) is a reconstructed ruin of a medieval castle of an irregular plan located in northern Slovakia, 12 km east of Žilina. The castle stands on a calcite ...

. The Dierový potok stream created a complex of canyons, waterfalls and cascades in that area. Šútovo Waterfall (''Šútovský vodopád '') is the highest waterfall in Malá Fatra and has a vertical drop of 38 m. Popular centres for winter sports are Vrátna dolina and Štefanová. Other tourism centres are the villages of Terchová, where the Slovak national hero

Juraj Jánošík Juraj Jánošík (first name also ''Juro'' or ''Jurko'', ; ''Hungarian: Jánosik György'', baptised 25 January 1688, died 17 March 1713) was a Slovak highwayman. Jánošík has been the main character of many Slovak novels, poems, and films. ...

was born and Zázrivá, where the traditional Slovak sheep cheese delicacy known as korbáčiky is made. One of the most popular ski areas in Slovakia outside the Tatras is the Martinské hole resort situated between the Veľká lúka Mountain and the town of

. Krivánska Malá Fatra is protected by the Malá Fatra National Park. In addition, Malá Fatra includes the following small-scale protection areas: *national nature reserves: Chleb, Minčol, Krivé, Šútovská dolina, Sokolec, Suchý, Starý hrad, Prípor, Šíp, Šrámková, Rozsutec, Tiesňavy, Veľká Bránica, Kľačianska Magura *nature reserves: Dubovské lúky, Goľove mláky, Hajasová, Hrabinka, Hrádok, Kraľoviansky meander, Močiar, Paráč, Pod Rígľom, Veľká Lučivná *natural monuments: Bôrická mláka, Domašínsky meander, Krasniansky luh, Šútovská epigenéza *protected site: Hate

Gallery

Image:Velky krivan.jpg, Veľký Kriváň, the highest mountain of the range Image:Klak.jpg, Kľak Image:Chleb.jpg, Chleb Image:Starý hrad.jpg, Starý hrad Image:Tiesňavy.jpg, Vrátna dolina Image:Velky Rozsutec.jpg, Veľký Rozsutec Mountain Image:Martin ( east view ).jpg, Martinské hole ski resort Image:Mala fatra2.jpg, Vrátna dolina Image:Sutovsky vodopad.jpg, 38m tall Šútovo Waterfall

References

External links

Malá Fatra
a
SpectacularSlovakia.skHiking map of Krivánska Malá Fatra
an
Lúčanská Malá Fatra
b
Military Cartographic Institute (VKÚ Harmanec)Another hiking map
wit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mala Fatra Mountain ranges of Slovakia Mountain ranges of the Western Carpathians

Gallery

See also

References

External links