Slovakia is a landlocked country in Europe with a land area of 49,035 square kilometers (12 million acres) of mostly mountainous terrain. Over 5.5 million people are living in this small nation.
Slovakia may be small but it is packed with so many beautiful attractions starting with its castles. There are 180 castles in this small country along with 425 chateaus. It is expected that tourists will see at least one castle wherever they are in Slovakia. The Slovaks are also very particular with the preservation of its culture and heritage. There are over a hundred folk groups in the country showcasing the different folk music and dances of the nation. It is also home to the first folk architecture reserve in the world through the village of Čičmany.
Aside from man-made structures, the natural resources in Slovakia are also abundant and beautiful. The country may be small but 6.5% of its total land area has been set aside as protected natural resources. Slovakia may be a landlocked country but it has a lot of beautiful rivers, most of which are from the Slovak mountains. These mountains are also home to hundreds of caves and caverns. Five of these caves have been designed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Other natural things abundant in Slovakia are fungi. There are over 4,000 fungi recorded in the country, a lot of them are endemic. The country is also noted for its biodiversity, endemism being a common thing. This biodiversity can be experienced in any of these five unexplored national parks in Slovakia:
1. Mala Fatra National Park
The park is located in the northern part of the Mala Fatra mountain range, which is often described as one karst features. It was declared a national park in 1988 but was already considered a protected landscape area before that. The centerpiece of the park is the Vel’ky Rozsutec, which is the highest peak in the Mala Fatra at 1,609.7 meters high. Its surroundings are home to various endemic plants and animals.
The mountains are mostly blanketed with beech forests but fir and spruce take up the higher elevations. The peak mostly hosts pine woods. There are also gorgeous flowers peppered around the park like the auricular, Dianthus nitidus, gentian, lady’s slipper orchid, and sundew.
The other beautiful natural attractions within the park include the Crystal Cave, which is home to marvelous calcite display; refreshing Sutovo Waterfall; stunning Starhrad and Strečno castles; and a system of gorges and canyons.
2. Pieniny National Park
The park is situated in the eastern part of the Pieniny Mountains, which borders Poland. Founded in 1967, Pieniny is the second oldest park in Slovakia. It is also the smallest park at just 37 square kilometers (9,142 acres). One of the park’s famous attractions is the Dunajec River Gorge. The river also borders Poland and Slovakia. While the gorge geographically belongs to Poland's side, this beautiful structure can be viewed within the Slovak park.
The park is home to various endemic plants like the Chrysanthemum Zawadzki, Libanotis Montana sibirica, and Taraxacum pieninicum. The park is also home to the following animals: alpine marmots, brown bears, chamois, eagles, lynxes, river otters, storks, and wolves.
3. Slovak Karst National Park
Home to over 700 caves, this park was established in 2002. The park covers the districts of Gelnica, Košice-okolie, and Rošňava. It has been a protected landscape since 1973, because of its numerous caves. In 1977, the area also became Slovakia’s first biosphere reserve through UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, which is a program that is meant to improve the relationship between man and the environment. Not only that, 12 out of the park’s 700 caves were recognized as World Heritage Sites.
One of the heritage caves is the Dominica Cave, which, when combined with the Baradla Cave in Hungary, represents the most important section of the Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst transboundary cave network. Dominica dates back to the Middle Triassic era and it has rich speleothems. Gombasek Cave is another heritage site, which locals have been trying to use for speleotherapy. There is also the Jasovska Cave, which is the oldest publicly accessible cave in Slovakia. There have been many archeological discoveries in this cave.
4. Slovak Paradise National Park
The park protects the eponymous mountain range covered by the park. Slovak Paradise is known for its amazing waterfalls and majestic gorges. There are around 19 nature reserves that are within the park’s territory. There are also around 350 caves within the park, although only the Dobšinská Ice Cave. There are an estimated 125,000 cubic meters of ice in the cave, which makes it one of the most significant ice caves in the world.
The park is attractive among hikers because of its 300-kilometer trails that have ladders and bridges, making the trek more exciting.
5. Velka Fatra National Park
The Greater Fatra or Velkra Fatra mountain range takes up most of the park. The highest mountain within the group is the Ostredok, which stands at 1,596 meters. The base of the mountains is mostly granite. The park was established in 2002 but it covers a lot of nature reserves, national monuments, and other protected areas that were designated as early as the 1950s. There are also some caves and caverns within the park but only the Harmanec Cave is open for tourists. Among the cave’s attractions are the following: Explorer’s Dome, White Gothic Dome, Dome of Pagodas, Riverbed, Tall Gothic Dome, and Labyrinth Dome.
The park was mainly established to protect its tree population. There are well-preserved Carpathian forests in the mountains as well as European beech that has been alive since the 15th through the 17th centuries. There is also a relict Scots pine forest within the territory. The Harmanec Valley, meanwhile, is noted for possibly the richest Irish yew population in all of Europe.
The lush vegetation provides a great habitat for the animals that live in the park-like the brown bears, Eurasian lynxes, and gray wolves.