Table of contents
1. Introduction
My Christmas vacation was a welcome opportunity to spend a few days in Slovakia to visit my friends in Bratislava.
But I also had plans to make hiking tours in the Veľká Fatra and Malá Fatra mountain ranges, two large mountain ranges1 in Central Slovakia, provided the weather conditions allowed for it.
Up to this point in time the Fatra mountains had been terra incognita for me, and I pushed it to a challenge of sorts for I wanted to explore hills, crests and valleys during the winter months.
1 themselves part of the vast Carpathian Mountains
2. Banská Bystrica (Central Slovakia)
I stayed in Banská Bystrica, a medium-sized city with around 80.000 inhabitants, throughout the whole Christmas holidays.
The most important city of Central Slovakia has a noteworthy history of copper-, silver- and gold-mining. German mining know-how influenced the town’s development crucially since the very beginnings of mining in this region (12th century) and in the course of the ensuing centuries.
Conveniently, there exists a fast direct train connection (duration three and a half hours) to the capital Bratislava which is fairly cheap (around ten Euros).
The Nízke Tatry (Low Tatras) as well as the Veľká Fatra (Great Fatra) mountain ranges are easily accessible from Banská Bystrica.
3. Veľká Fatra mountain range
The Veľká Fatra (veľký, -á, -é is the Slovak adjective for “big” or “great”) is one of several mountain ranges in Slovakia, and stretches over a larger area than her western sister, the Little Fatra, what is evidently the origin of both distinct names.
The highest peak in the Veľká Fatra National Park (that covers a large part of the densely forested Great Fatra mountain range) is Ostredok (1592 meters AMSL, i. e. Above Mean Sea Level; every stated height in this article is AMSL).
3.1 Špania Dolina, December 24
Four hours took this tour from my apartment in the city center to Špania Dolina in the north of Banská Bystrica, which was quite perfect for Christmas Eve.
Špania Dolina (the nearby valley bears the same name) is situated at the western foothills of the Low Tatras.
It was an important mining town in the Middle Ages like most of the settlements in this area. And so you can see many remnants and reminiscences of the mining era when you stride along the roads and narrow streets.
From Špania Dolina it is just a few kilometers to Staré Hory (“Old Mountains”), one entrance point to the Great Fatra mountain range.
3.2 Vyhnatová, December 25
I started my tour2 in Králiky, a small town around three kilometers westwards of Banská Bystrica.
From there I followed first the blue marked, then the red marked path towards to highest elevation on my route: Vyhnatová (1283 meters).
The weather was okay on this day, though a thick layer of snow made orientation difficult in places.
So I had to face slight inconveniences and I had to have my compass constantly in hand (the map on my smartphone was unreliable) to get to the finishing point of my tour before nightfall, the small town of Kordíky.
From Kordíky one can take the bus to Banská Bystrica, or hike back on the green marked footpath.
2 the hiking tour here described doesn’t lead through the Veľká Fatra National park actually but through the Kremnické vrchy mountains (Kremnica Mountains); those mountains are the southern continuation of the Great Fatra geologically
4. Žilina (north-western Slovakia)
The first appearance of Žilina as the most important city in northwestern Slovakia traces back to the 14th century.
In the course of the following centuries, Žilina became a religious center endowed with many churches and several synagogues.
The city with its 81.000 inhabitants is a major traffic junction today, as well as a major industrial site.
The Malá Fatra (Little Fatra) mountain range is easily accessible from Žilina.
5. Malá Fatra mountain range
Despite the name might suggest, the Malá Fatra (malý, -á, -é is the Slovak adjective for “little” or “small”) possesses the higher peaks and gets far more visitors than the lesser known Great Fatra (the Great Fatra stretches over a larger area however, as already mentioned).
The main ridge of the mountain range is ruptured by the river Váh (Waag), so there is a north-eastern (Krivanská Fatra) and a south-western part (Lúčanská Fatra). Both parts are named after their respective highest peaks, which are Veľký Kriváň (1709 meters) and Veľká lúka (1476 meters).
The Krivanská Fatra is protected under the auspices of the Národný park Malá Fatra.
5.1 Minčol, December 28
nemožno – impossible.
The plan was to ascend the mountain Minčol (1364 meters) with my starting point at the train station in Vrútky (382 meters), but the weather conditions thwarted it this time.
Due to the hip-deep snow from about 1100 meters on I couldn’t hike any further than Sedlo Okopy (1285 meters), some hundred steps short of the peak.
I encountered a few other hikers on this hazy winter day, and no one made it beyond that mark unfortunately.
5.2 Chata pod Kľačianskou Magurou, December 29
This cottage is situated in the Malá Fatra National Park, and the chata is a good layover before proceeding to Suchý (1468 meters) and Malý Kriváň (1671 meters).
The tour is comparatively easy, and even doable for children (two hours on the green marked path from Turčianske Kľačany on).
For snowy weather conditions I would recommend using crampons or spikes in any case however.
Kľačianska Magura itself is a peak (1367 meters) in the national park which is not accessible for the general visitor on grounds of nature protection laws.
6. Conclusion
Again I expanded my horizon in Slovakia, though weather impeded my hiking plans to some extent as one can expect in December.
What’s next? An article about the mining history in Slovakia might be a worthwhile idea, what would offer a good pretext to visit two famous cities that have been on my bucket list for a long time: Banská Štiavnica and Kremnica.
And I still haven’t seen Košice, the second largest city in Slovakia.
Featured image: Nízke Tatry, trail to Špania Dolina