What to See in Tatra National Park - Top Sights and Attractions

Mountain in Slovakia. Kriváň is a mountain in the High Tatras, Slovakia, that dominates the upper part of the former Liptov County. Multiple surveys among nature lovers have ranked it as the country's most beautiful peak. Readily accessible along maintained marked trails and with the exceptional vistas afforded from its summit, it is the hikers' favorite mountain in the western part of the High Tatras. Kriváň has also been a major symbol in Slovak ethnic and national activism for the past two centuries. It has been referenced in works of art from 19th-century literature, through paintings, film documentaries, to a Polish rock track. A country-wide vote in 2005 selected it to be one of the images on Slovakia's euro coins.^[4]

Imposing mountain range summit. Gerlachovský štít, informally referred to as Gerlach, is the highest peak in the High Tatras, in Slovakia, and in the Carpathian Mountains. Its elevation is usually listed at 2654.4 m above mean sea level. The pyramidal shape of the massif is marked by a huge cirque. Despite its relatively low elevation, Gerlachovský štít features a vertical rise of approximately 2,000 metres above the valley floor.

Mistaken for an average mountain in the rugged High Tatras range in the more distant past, it has since played a symbolic role in the eyes of the rulers and populations of several Central European nations, to the point that between the 19th and mid-20th century, it had four different names with six name reversals. Due to geopolitical changes, it managed to be the highest mountain of the Kingdom of Hungary, and of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and then Czechoslovakia again within the span of less than three decades of the 20th century.

Gerlachovský štít shares its geology and ecology with the rest of the High Tatras, but provides a worthwhile environment for biologists as the highest ground anywhere in Europe north of the parallel approximately linking Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna. With the travel restrictions imposed by the Eastern Bloc, the mountain was particularly treasured by Czechs, East Germans, Hungarians, Poles, and Slovaks as the loftiest point available for them to climb. Although local authorities have since restricted access to the peak, it continues to attract its share of visitors.^[9]

Mountain in Slovakia. Lomnický štít is one of the highest and most visited mountain peaks in the High Tatras mountains of Slovakia. Connected by cable car to Tatranská Lomnica, its summit is 2634 metres above sea level, making it the second highest peak in the High Tatras after Gerlachovský štít.

Local shoemaker and amateur miner Jakab Fábry stated he made an ascent around 1760–1790, but the first recorded ascent was made by the English traveler Robert Townson and guide on 16 August 1793. He measured the elevation of the peak to be 2633 m, a meter below the actual elevation. The first winter ascent was made in 1891.

In the past, Lomnický štít was called as Vater (Father), Grossvater (Grandfather), Königsberg (King's Mountain), Królowa Tatr and Królowa Tatrzańska (Princess of the Tatra), Petra altissima kesmarkiensis and allerhöchster Kaisermärkerfels (Highest cliff of Kežmarok), höchste Kaisermärker Spitze (Highest peak of Kežmarok), késmárki hegyek (Hills of Kežmarok), Kesmarker Spitze or Lumnitzer Spitze (Peak of Kežmarok or Peak of Lomnica).

Since 1940, tourists have reached the peak by cable car. They are allowed to stay on the peak for 50 minutes. The cable car system is normally closed in the month of May for annual maintenance. It is also possible to climb the peak from Lomnický Saddle, but this is only permitted with a mountain guide.

There is a solar observatory and weather station permanently manned year round at the terminus of the cable car.^[12]

Mountain in Slovakia. Batizovský štít is a 2,448 metres high double peak mountain in High Tatras in Slovakia. Batizovský štít, just like Batizovská dolina, Batizovské pleso or the village Batizovce are named after the local 13th century aristocrat Batiz from the Mariáš dynasty, who used to be the owner of Mengusovská or Batizovská dolina and established the village of Batizovce.

Batizovský štít isn't accessible for tourists by a marked trail, but trail passes around the Batizovské pleso lake under the mountain. The solid rock makes it one of the best climbing spots in High Tatras containing dozens of routes in different grades of difficulty. You can however find an official tourist trail leading close to the peak, offering astonishing views to Gerlachovský štít, Končistá and Kačací štít.^[20]

Zbójnickie shelter - a shelter in the Slovak High Tatras, in the Staroleśna Valley at an altitude of around 1960 m a.s.l.

The first building that was built here was a cottage erected in 1907–1908. They were built by the Hungarian Board of State Forests for hunting purposes, but in 1910 he made available to tourists. At the beginning it was undeveloped, it housed one room with bunks, benches and stove. In 1924, the hostel was taken over by the Czechoslovakian tourists' club - they were rebuilt and the current name of the Zbojnícka Chata was given. Later, further renovations were carried out - the last one took place after the fire on June 14, 1998 and ended at the end of 1999. Voluntary donations collected among Slovak society were in the reconstruction. During the renovation, next to the burnt building there was a large tent in which tourists could also sleep. Today the shelter has 16 beds. Zbójnicka Chata is only supplied by the nosiczów. Chatar of the hostel in 2010 was ľudovít Záhor.

It took its name from nearby Zbójnicki ponds. Formerly, by Polish mountaineers, she was called the corpse because of the cold, moisture and disorder. The current Polish name is Kalaka Słowacka, it was not used before World War II.

The hostel near Rysami, also called the hostel under the scale - the Tatra shelter located in the upper part of the Żabiej Mięguszowiecka valley in the Slovak High Tatras. This shelter, known mainly thanks to the convenient location under Rysami, lies at an altitude of 2241 m a.s.l.

The cottage is open only in the summer season (from June 16 to October 31). No road or lift leads to the shelter, it is supplied only by porters (so -called bullshit) or tourists who receive tea with raspberry juice for bringing a load of 5-10 kg. A small amount of electricity is obtained from solar batteries, while the water comes from melted snow or at the end of the season from a stream located below. At the bottom of the cottage there is a dining room and a buffet, while in the attic a room with sleeping places. The attraction is the toilet cabin suspended over the abyss distant a minute from the shelter. As at 2022, Chatar is known to Nosicz Viktor Beránek.

SKOK waterfall - a waterfall on the Młynica stream in the Młynicka Valley in the Slovak High Tatras. It is located above the indirect clearing, and below the clearing below. The name of the waterfall comes from the word SKOK, which in Slovak and in the Podhale dialect means a waterfall, in South Slavic languages ​​rock threshold, fault, accumulation. It is located on a high rock threshold parting the central part of this valley. It has a height of about 25 m. At large water on the upper edge of the waterfall threshold, the waterfall breaks down, throwing a water shower forward. The most effective waterfall is at the beginning of the Tatra summer, i.e. in June, it throws an average of 880 liters of water per second. The amount of water flowing down it is very variable, in March, for example, it is only 54 l/s. A terrifying impression was made by a waterfall during a great flood in 1958, when about 30,000 flowed it. liters of water per second, and this water fought large stones.

There are two ponds in the immediate vicinity of the waterfall; Above the threshold, the pond over the jump, from which the water supply water flows, below the threshold is the pond under the jump. A yellow tourist trail leads next to the waterfall. He overcomes the steep rock threshold; The most exposed places are secured with chains.

Mountain summit and 1940's observatory. Lomnický štít is one of the highest and most visited mountain peaks in the High Tatras mountains of Slovakia. Connected by cable car to Tatranská Lomnica, its summit is 2634 metres above sea level, making it the second highest peak in the High Tatras after Gerlachovský štít.

Local shoemaker and amateur miner Jakab Fábry stated he made an ascent around 1760–1790, but the first recorded ascent was made by the English traveler Robert Townson and guide on 16 August 1793. He measured the elevation of the peak to be 2633 m, a meter below the actual elevation. The first winter ascent was made in 1891.

In the past, Lomnický štít was called as Vater (Father), Grossvater (Grandfather), Königsberg (King's Mountain), Królowa Tatr and Królowa Tatrzańska (Princess of the Tatra), Petra altissima kesmarkiensis and allerhöchster Kaisermärkerfels (Highest cliff of Kežmarok), höchste Kaisermärker Spitze (Highest peak of Kežmarok), késmárki hegyek (Hills of Kežmarok), Kesmarker Spitze or Lumnitzer Spitze (Peak of Kežmarok or Peak of Lomnica).

Since 1940, tourists have reached the peak by cable car. They are allowed to stay on the peak for 50 minutes. The cable car system is normally closed in the month of May for annual maintenance. It is also possible to climb the peak from Lomnický Saddle, but this is only permitted with a mountain guide.

There is a solar observatory and weather station permanently manned year round at the terminus of the cable car.^[22]

Mountain belt. The Fatra-Tatra Area or the Tatra-Fatra Belt of core mountains 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 into Austria and Poland. The highest summit of the whole Carpathians, the Gerlachovský štít at 2,655 m, lies in the High Tatras range which belongs to this area.

The Fatra-Tatra Area is from the northern side bounded by Pieniny Klippen Belt. Mountains of the area are located in two ranges. The external range consists of Hainburg Hills, Malé Karpaty (Pezinok part), Považský Inovec, Strážovské vrchy, Malá Fatra, Tatras (Western, High and Belianske Tatry). Inner range consists of Tribeč, Žiar, Veľká Fatra, Chočské vrchy, Ďumbier part of Nízke Tatry and massif of Smrekovica in the Branisko. The southern boundary of Area is the Čertovica line, south of which is the Vepor Belt.

The Tatra-Fatra Belt consists of Tatric alpine crystalline basement and its autochthonous sedimentary cover, over which the Subtatric nappes (Fatric and Hronic) were thrust.

The name core mountains is derived from the structural element, resistant crystalline basement rocks, preserved in the core of horsts, often forming the highest peaks of the mountains.^[23]

The Tatra symbolic cemetery, formerly a symbolic cemetery of the victims of the Tatra Mountains - a symbolic cemetery located on the western slopes of Osterwa in the High Tatras. It is located southeast of Poprad's pond at the outlet of the Złomisk Valley to the main branch of the Mięguszowiecka Valley.

The design of the cemetery in 1922 was put out by the Czech mountaineer, skier and painter, Otakar Štáfl. Construction moved forward thanks to the help of KSST, later KSTL. The place was chosen in 1934. Two years later, a stone chapel of the Robert Vosyka project was created, the whole was opened on August 11, 1940. The ceremony was attended by the President of Slovakia, Jozef Tiso. One of the main creators of the cemetery was Alojz Lutonský. A motto was placed in the cemetery: mŕtvym on a souvenir, Živým pre výstrahu (dead to souvenir, living as a warning).

Štáfl was guided by the idea of ​​abandoning the plaques of the victims of the Tatra Mountains in the places of their tragic death. First of all, commemorative plaques placed in various parts of the Tatra Mountains were collected here by the families of the dead, later new ones were added. Later, 60 painted wooden crosses made by a sculptor from the village of Detva, Jozef Fekiač-šumni, and his younger brother Ján. Currently, there are about 300 boards commemorating over 400 people in the cemetery. Among them you can find Polish names. The boards commemorate, among others Klemens Bachleda, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Wiesław Stanisławski, Witold Wojnar, Tadeusz Strumiłło, Jan Długosz, brothers Jerzy and Wojciech Biederman, as well as TOPR rescuers Janusz Kubica and Stanisław Mateja Torbiarz and pilots of "Sokol" Bogusław Arendarczyk and Janusz Rybicki, who died in the air catastrophe, in the Olczyska Valley. There are plaques dedicated to people associated with the Tatras who died elsewhere, e.g. in other mountains. In this way they were commemorated, among others The originator of the Otakar Štáfl cemetery and his wife Vlasta Štáflová, Wawrzyniec Żuławski, Stanisław Groński, Jerzy Kukuczka, Piotr Morawski, Samuel Skierski, Wanda Rutkiewicz (5 May 2012), Aleksander Ostrowski (November 11, 2016).

From 1969, the cemetery has been looked after by the Slovak Tatra National Park. In 1970, the object was entered in the register of national souvenirs. New boards have been installed since 2003 by employees of the Tanap Field Service Center. They are decided by the Commission at the Park Directorate.

The cemetery is symbolic (there are no bodies buried here) and international - it commemorates the victims of the mountains of various nationalities.