High Tatra

The Finest Valley and Mountain Walks

Rother walking guides are pocket-sized, in full colour and include 50 walks, varying from day-long hikes, mountain and valley walks, some easy some more demanding. Each walk has accompanying mapping, usually 1:50 000 and colour photos capture the 'feel' of each of the countries.

The political events over the past years have rendered access to the High Tatra significantly easier. In this wild mountainous land on the border between Slovakia and Poland the most prominent peaks of the Carpathians reach up to 2655 metres (Gerlachovsky stit). In 1949 this area was declared a national park and has since been subject to extremely strict protective regulations.

Stanislav Samuhel, a mountain guide from the Tatra village of Tatranskß Lomnica and an authority on this smallest of European mountain ranges, introduces 55 walks in his home mountains with a range of difficulty to satisfy all from the moderate walker to the experienced mountaineer. All hiking routes are described in great detail so that finding the way is easy for the reader.

The guide offers a great variety of walks: from simple strolls in the foothills of the larger peaks, through picturesque lake walks to difficult and fatiguing summit trips where the occasional "hands on" approach is called for. The thoroughly revised 2nd edition includes seven walks which explore the Polish part of the High Tatra, i.e. the area around the Zakapane holiday resort, which is rich in tradition.

An overview map, brief summaries, illustrated Freytag & Berndt hiking maps at a scale of 1:50,000 with the routes marked and a short yet thorough route description for each of the over 50 suggested walks help the hiker with planning as well as on the walk itself. Photographs in colour convey a first impression of the spectacular landscape and help in making a choice between the individual routes.