Gorce National Park

Gorce National Park was established in 1981 and covers the area of 7019 ha; the main element of the landscape are forests taking 95%. It is a typical forest mountain Park, with a layer configuration of plants (lower and upper prealps). It comprises the central part of the Gorce with 5 summits of over 1200 meters, with the highest one – Jaworzyna Krzemieniecka (1233 meters). In the slopes of Turbacz on the area of the Park rise 10 streams, with “the queen of the Gorce rivers” – the Kamienica, which belong to the catchment area of the Dunajec and the Raba – the right-bank tributaries of the upper Vistula.

The lower prealps (600 – 1150 meters) comprise 80% of the Park area. They consist of various types of beech woods with the dominating group of the Carpathian beech wood and fir-tree forests. The layer of the upper prealps is covered by a spruce forest taking 20% of the Park area.

The world of plants is represented by around 930 species of vascular plants, including 134 (14%) mountain species, among which there are many floristic peculiarities – very rare alpine species, e.g. Botrychium lanceolatum and Cortusa matthioli.

Typical forest fauna. Among 37 species of mammals are for example: the lynx Felis lynx, the wildcat Felis silvestris and the wolf Canis lupus. Sometimes one can meet the bear Ursus arctos. Among 96 species of birds there are: the wood grouse Tetrao urogallus, the black grouse Tetrao tetrix, the hazel hen tetrastes banasia, the eagle owl Bubo and the raven Corvus corax.