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; French: Hautes Tatras), 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.

Contents

Description

Peaks

Mountain lakes

Transport

Culture

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 2,655 metres (8,711 ft).

Biogeography

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, 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's trans-border Tatra biosphere reserve.^[1]

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

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 - 1,347 m, 20 m deep.
- Popradské pleso - 1,494 m, 17 m deep.
- Veľké Hincovo pleso - 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
- Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy - 1,624 m, 51 m deep.

Transport

By TEŽ
- Line 183: from: Štrbské Pleso - to: Poprad-Tatry
- Line 184: from: Starý Smokovec - to: Tatranská Lomnica
By OŽ
- Line 182: from: Štrbské Pleso - to: Štrba
By ŽSR
- Line 185: from: Tatranská Lomnica - to: Studený Potok or from: Poprad-Tatry - to: Plaveč

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.

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.