Veľká Fatra National Park

Veľká Fatra National Park (Slovak: Národný park Veľká Fatra) is a National Park in Slovakia. Most of it lies in the southern part of the Žilina Region and a small part in the northern part of Banská Bystrica Region. The national park and its protective zone comprise most of the Greater Fatra Range (Slovak: Veľká Fatra) which belongs to the Outer Western Carpathians.

The National Park was declared on 1 April 2002 as an upgrade of the Protected Landscape Area (Slovak: Chránená krajinná oblasť (CHKO) Veľká Fatra) of the same name established in 1972 to protect a mountain range with a high percentage of well-preserved Carpathian forests, with prevailing European beech, which cover 90% of the area in combination with ridge-top cattle pastures dating back to the 15th - 17th centuries, to the times of the so called Walachian colonization. In places there are also relict Scots pine forests and the Harmanec valley is notable as the richest Irish yew tree location in Central and probably all Europe. NP Veľká Fatra is also an important reservoir of fresh water thanks to high rainfalls and low evaporation in the area. The core of the range is built of granite which reaches the surface only in places, more common are various slates creating gently modelled ridges and summits of the so called Hôlna Fatra and limestone and dolomite rocks creating a rough and picturesque terrain of the so called Bralná Fatra. There are also many karst features, namely caves, Harmanec Cave being the only one open to the public.

Various rocks and therefore various soils, diverse type of terrain with gentle upland meadows and pastures, sharp cliffs and deep valleys provide for extremely rich flora and fauna. All species of big Central European carnivores live abundantly there: brown bear, gray wolf and Eurasian lynx.

The area is popular with tourists, mainly hikers and trekkers as there rather few resorts, located outside the National Park. The UNESCO World Heritage village of Vlkolínec with well-preserved log cabins lies nearby.

Small Protected Areas

As of February 2007, there were following small protected areas within the NP Veľká Fatra and its buffer zone:

Name	Established	Area	Reason for protection
National Nature Reserve
Borišov	1981	Template:Unit area
Čierny kameň	1964	Template:Unit area
Harmanecká tisina	1949	Template:Unit area
Jánošíkova kolkáreň	1964	Template:Unit area
Kornietová	1973	Template:Unit area
Kundračka	1973	Template:Unit area
Lysec	1984	Template:Unit area
Madačov	1984	Template:Unit area
Padva	1972	Template:Unit area
Rakšianske rašelinisko	1984	Template:Unit area
Rumbáre	1973	Template:Unit area
Skalná Alpa	1964	Template:Unit area
Suchý vrch	1988	Template:Unit area
Tlstá	1981	Template:Unit area
Veľká Skalná	1988	Template:Unit area
Nature Reserve
Biela Skala	1993	Template:Unit area
Harmanecký Hlboký jarok	1998	Template:Unit area
Katova skala	1982	Template:Unit area
Korbeľka	1973	Template:Unit area
Rojkovské rašelinisko	1950	Template:Unit area
National Nature Monument
Perlová jaskyňa	2001	Template:Unit length
National Nature Monument
Dogerské skaly	1952	Template:Unit area
Hradené jazero Blatné	1990	Template:Unit area
Jazierske travertíny	1952	Template:Unit area
Krkavá skala	1952	Template:Unit area
Majerova skala	1992	Template:Unit area
Matejkovský kamenný prúd	1986	Template:Unit area
Prielom Teplého potoka	1984	Template:Unit area
Rojkovská travertínová kopa	1971	Template:Unit area
Travertínové terasy Bukovinka	1980	Template:Unit area
Vlčia skala	1952	Template:Unit area
Protected Areal
Dekretov porast	1999	Template:Unit area
Háj pred dolinou Teplô	1975	Template:Unit area
Krásno	1997	Template:Unit area
Mošovské aleje	1969	Template:Unit area
Revúca	2002	Template:Unit area

Resources

• Brandos, Otakar (2004). Veľká Fatra, Šípska Fatra. Ostrava: SKY. ISBN 80-86774-02-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• VKÚ Harmanec (2003). Veľká Fatra. Edícia turistických máp 1:50000. Harmanec: VKÚ. ISBN 80-8042-044-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• "Veľká Fatra". Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• "Štátny zoznam osobitne chranených častí prírody SR". Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• Veľká Fatra National Park at Slovakia.travel
• Veľká Fatra National Park at Slovakiatourism.sk