Gorce Mountains

File:Lynx lynx2.jpg in Gorce National Park]]

File:Feuersalamander.ogg in its natural habitat]]

Part of the Gorce Mountains are protected within Gorce National Park ({{langx|pl|Gorczański Park Narodowy}}), a bird sanctuary and a biodiversity conservation area designated in 1981 by the Małopolska Province,{{cite web | url=http://igorce.eu/gorczanski-park-narodowy | title=General information with weather and broad selection of photographs | publisher=Gorczański Park Narodowy (Portal turystyczny iGorce.eu) | work=Gorce National Park | access-date=January 11, 2013 | language=pl | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305004332/http://igorce.eu/gorczanski-park-narodowy | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | url-status=dead }} with strictly protected zone covering 3,611 hectares,{{cite web | url=http://www.npsumava.cz/cz/3221/4708/clanek/ | title=Gorce National Park (GNP). Introduction | publisher=Národní park Šumava | work=Science and research | year=2013 | access-date=January 9, 2013 | author=Study group | location=Kašperské Hory | archive-date=January 12, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112205721/http://www.npsumava.cz/cz/3221/4708/clanek/ | url-status=dead }} out of the total park area of {{convert|7030|ha|sqmi}}, in the highest part of the Gorce.{{cite web | url=http://www.gorczanskipark.pl/page,art,id,16,kategoria,GPN_w_liczbach.html | title=GPN w liczbach (Park in numbers) | publisher=Gorczański Park Narodowy (Gorce National Park) | work=O Gorczańskim Parku Narodowym (About) | year=2012 | access-date=January 9, 2013 | author=Janusz Tomasiewicz | language=pl, en, de}}

Wildlife include almost 50 mammal species,{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YqezH8JUD_cC&q=%22Spo%C5%9Br%C3%B3d+blisko+pi%C4%99%C4%87dziesi%C4%99ciu+gatunk%C3%B3w+ssak%C3%B3w+zamieszkuj%C4%85cych+g%C3%B3ry+i+ich+podn%C3%B3%C5%BCa+na+pierwszym+miejscu+nale%C5%BCy+wymieni%C4%87+du%C5%BCe+ssaki+drapie%C5%BCne%3A+wilka+i+rysia.%22&pg=PA29 | chapter=Geografia i przyroda Gorców (Geography and botany of Gorce) | publisher=Oficyna Wydawnicza "Rewasz" | title=Gorce: przewodnik dla prawdziwego turysty (Gorce: guide for the qualified tourist) | year=2004 | access-date=January 27, 2013 | author=Marek Cieszkowski | pages=29– | quote=Google Translate: Of the nearly fifty species of mammals living in the mountains and their foothills, in the first place, are the large predatory mammals: wolf and lynx. (Spośród blisko pięćdziesięciu gatunków ssaków zamieszkujących góry i ich podnóża na pierwszym miejscu należy wymienić duże ssaki drapieżne: wilka i rysia.) | isbn=8389188198}} with wolf and lynx at the top; less frequent brown bear,{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXQ03uVmCAIC&q=%22Gorce+Mountains%22&pg=PA90 | title=Brown bear range in Poland: Gorce Mountains | publisher=IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) | chapter=Bears: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan | year=1999 | access-date=January 16, 2013 | author=Christopher Servheen | pages=90– | isbn=2831704626 | format=Google books preview}} and lutra (rare European otter), as well as marten and badger often found digging under pasture fields. The Hazel and the Forest dormouse along with the Edible dormouse are all strictly protected. There are over 200 Red deer counted in the park area, as well as Roe deer and Wild boar, fox, wildcat, hare, skunk, and stoat (the ermine). Reptiles and amphibians include the fire salamander ({{langx|la|Salamandra salamandra}}, the only amphibian (one of two Salamandridae) that give birth to fully formed offspring at high elevations;{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYU3LKk9BmIC&q=%22in+montane+regions%22+%22giving+birth+to+well-developed+young%22&pg=PA361 | title=Amphibian reproduction: Fire salamander | publisher=Cambridge University Press | chapter=Reproductive Science and Integrated Conservation | year=2002 | access-date=January 25, 2013 |author1=William V. Holt |author2=Amanda R. Pickard |author3=John C. Rodger |author4=David E. Wildt | page=361 | format=Google books preview | quote=S. salamandra [Fire salamander] and Mertinsiella caucasica [Caucasian salamander] ... in montane regions ... retain their eggs, later giving birth to well-developed young (D&T, 1986).| isbn=9780521011105 }}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTnEi4xgoNsC&q=%22at+high+elevations+give+birth+to+fully+formed+small+salamanders%22&pg=PT73 | chapter=Fire Salamander: Breeding | publisher=Barron's Educational Series | title=Newts and Salamanders: Everything about Selection, Care, Nutrition, Diseases, Breeding, and Behavior | year=2010 | access-date=January 25, 2013 | author=Frank Indiviglio | page=79 | isbn=978-0764142437 | quote=Individuals living at high elevations give birth to fully formed small salamanders, skipping the larval stage completely.}}{{cite web | url=http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-salamander.html | title=Amphibians: Salamander & Newt | publisher=San Diego Zoo | work=Animal Bytes | year=2013 | access-date=January 17, 2013 | quote="Fun facts • The fire salamander is the only amphibian that does not hatch from an egg. Instead, the babies develop inside the mother’s body" (webpage: left-hand side). | author=Zoological Society of San Diego}} the symbol of the Park), as well as over ninety species of breeding birds including owl, eagle, hawk, grouse, black stork and others.{{cite web | url=http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/gorc.htm | title=Gorczanski National Park | publisher=University of Adam Mickiewicz, Poland (Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu) | work=Polish National Parks | year=2008 | access-date=January 11, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130109235716/http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/gorc.htm | archive-date=January 9, 2013 | url-status=dead }}

In the Gorce, there are hundreds of species of plants, including Alpine and Subalpine plants, which grow in meadows and open areas. Forests cover about 65% of the mountains, in four distinct levels according to elevation. The most common species of trees are beech, spruce and fir, with the average age of up to 100 years.

The Gorce landscape has been altered by human activity. Early settlers appeared in the Gorce area in the 12th century. The first monastery was erected in Ludźmierz by Cistercian monks in 1234. During the reign of Casimir III the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) the first castles were built, including in Czorsztyn, and more new settlements, such as the town of Krościenko (1348) and villages: Kluszkowce (1307), Grywałd (1330), and Tylmanowa (1336), were established along the border with the Kingdom of Hungary, followed by increased commercial logging and transport. However, the Gorce forests suffered most in the 19th century during the imperial rule of Austria-Hungary. Trees were cut on a large scale, especially in easily accessible areas.

The Gorce Mountains are a popular tourist area, with forty well-marked trails for hiking trips two-to-four hours long, split into different levels of difficulty with the maximum distance of {{convert|17|km}} (Raba Niżna-Turbacz Trail, which is twice the average length).{{cite web | url=http://www.czorsztyn.com/pl/io657/gorce-szlaki-turystyczne | title=Gorce szlaki turystyczne (trails) | publisher=Baza turystyczna Czorsztyn.com | work=Informator. Gorce | year=2012 | access-date=January 11, 2013 | author=Janusz Wojtarowicz | language=pl}} Notably, the colors of trail blazes (signs, installed by PTTK for hikers and skiers alike) do not imply levels of difficulty, but rather primary and secondary trails with different length and orientation, for example: the red and blue colors signify trails in east-west and north-south directions, while shortest loops generally use yellow blazes.{{cite web | url=http://beskidy.gopr.pl/?kolory-szlakow-turystycznych,233 | title=Colors of tourist trails (Kolory szlaków turystycznych) | publisher=Grupa Beskidzka GOPR | work=Official website | access-date=January 15, 2013}}

1. 24px Red, the longest trail, traversing the entire range: from easternmost Krościenko nad Dunajcem, to Rabka-Zdrój at its western end.
2. 24px Blue trails, from Snozka Pass (Przełęcz Snozka) in the south, to Kamienica (north).
3. 24px Green trails, from Tylmanowa, Niedźwiedź, Nowy Targ (district capital) across the highest peaks (Turbacz, Lubań).
4. 24px Yellow trails, from Ochotnica Górna, Poręba Wielka, Raba Niżna to PTTK mountain chalets usually.
5. 24px Black trails; from Szczawa, Lubomierz, Łopuszna, Mszana Dolna, Rabka-Zdrój across various meadows and passes.

{{wide image|Beskid Wyspowy - panorama z Jaworzynki.JPG|1000px|align-cap=center|Panorama of the Gorce Mountains}}

• Geography of Poland
• Tourism in Poland

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikivoyage|Gorce}}

{{Commons category|Gorce}}

• [http://www.mapy.cc/beskidy/gorce/szlaki.jpg The relief map of Gorce], marked with tourist trails and approximate walking time, published by [http://www.mapy.cc/ Mapy górskie, 2012.] Retrieved {{nobreak|January 11, 2013.}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110429082208/http://www.compass.krakow.pl/kopie_mapy/compass_gorce.html Interactive map of the Gorce Mountains], with exact elevations, mountain passes, and the location of astronomical observatory; published by Wydawnictwo Compass, Poland. Retrieved {{nobreak|January 11, 2013.}}
• [http://www.pieniny.com/pl/info/184/informator/gorce_i_beskid_sadecki/mapa_gorcow.html Road-map of Gorce region with names of settlements and lakes], published by Pieniny.com in collaboration with European Union Agricultural Development Fund LEADER, 2007–2013. Retrieved {{nobreak|January 11, 2013.}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130115071357/http://igorce.eu/mapy/ High zoom map of Gorce National Park], with the location of every single peak and names of all forests and streams, published by the Gorce National Park (Gorczański Park Narodowy), 2012. Retrieved {{nobreak|January 11, 2013.}}
• [http://www.gorczanskipark.pl/page,art,id,159,kategoria,Szlaki_piesze.html Selection of smaller maps of walking, biking, skiing, and horse-riding trails in the Park], with an introduction to levels of difficulty by Krystyna Popko – Tomasiewicz, published by Gorczański Park Narodowy. Retrieved {{nobreak|January 11, 2013.}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130109065030/http://www.e-gory.pl/index.php/Mapy-online/Beskidy-Sygnatura/Gorce.html Selection of 9 interactive maps of Beskids (including Gorce Mountains as well as Bieszczady)], digitized from Mapa turystyczna Gorce published by Wydawnictwo "Sygnatura", Polkart. Retrieved {{nobreak|January 11, 2013}} (courtesy of Maps online e-Gory.pl).
• [http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=POL-SLO-UKR+01&mode=all East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve] by UNESCO at MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory. Retrieved January 10, 2013.

{{Geographic Location (8-way) | Centre = Gorce Mountains | North = Lubomierz (Rzeki) | Northeast = Szczawa | East = Ochotnica Dolna | Southeast = Maniowy → Czorsztyn | South = Łopuszna on the Dunajec | Southwest = Nowy Targ | West = Obidowa | Northwest = Rabka-Zdrój }}

{{Polish protected areas}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Mountain ranges of Poland

Category:National parks of Poland

Category:Parks in Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Category:Articles containing video clips