People were banned from entering this valley for 20 years. It is now reopening. (source: Marcela Ballová)
The Javorníková Dolina valley, one of the most beautiful and wild areas of the Muránská Planina National Park, is reopening to visitors after more than two decades. However, the park intends to avoid mass tourism in the area. Access to the Javorníková valley will be allowed only in small groups accompanied by a guide-lecturer, reports the website My Banská Bystrica.
A narrow canyon, numerous smaller and larger rock openings with sinter decoration, lush greenery and, especially, an exceptional overhang with visible remains of geological transformations plus a curtain of ivy at the entrance are among the numerous sights in the area – along with telltale signs that the valley is home to wild animals, rare birds and countless other creatures.
"Public pressure to make the Javorníková valley accessible grew. That's why the Muránska Planina National Park Administration decided to accommodate tourists, but entry to this unique site will have its own rules," said ecologist Jakub Korytiak during a walk there.
He added that the park had decided to open the valley as part of the development of nature tourism, for which interest is growing more and more. He explained that the Javorníková valley was closed years ago due to the various precious species and environments within it that require protection.
He specified that the number of tourists allowed in each group has been set at eight.
"There will certainly not be entries every day. We have to respect the period when rare species of birds, for example the golden eagle, nest here," the ecologist pointed out, adding that entrance fees will definitely be charged. They have not yet calculated the exact amount, but the dates of possible visits to the valley will be published well in advance on the official website of the Muránska Planina National Park Administration and on social networks.
Very valuable territory
The whole of Muránska Planina is a protected area, and the Javorníková valley is included in the area in which the fifth level of protection applies.
"This is a very valuable territory, whether from the point of view of the karst valley or the fauna and flora that can be found in it. There are a large number of protected plants and animals, many species of birds and a rare species of flowering shrub, the lykovec muránsky (Daphne arbuscula), that is endemic to Slovakia. In addition to the karst areas, where the entire nature of the valley is preserved and marked by wildness, at its very end there is an area included in the Slovak Forest Reserve," explained the specialist.
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The Javorníková valley, which covers an area of over 170 hectares, was declared a state nature reserve in 1986. It used to contain a marked hiking trail. However, this was cancelled in 1991.
"The valley, which is in places only about 20 metres wide, has steep to vertical precipice walls. At the end is a 60-metre-high waterfall," states the 1991 publication Muránska Planina Protected Landscape Area, stating that the Javorníková valley creates a stepped river gorge, just over a kilometre long.
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