Basic Information
According to IUCN criteria, the park belongs to a category II protected area - National Park, with more than 75% of the territory under a high degree of protection. The primary objective of the park is preservation of the already established natural values, improving the well-being of the people living in the park, as well as providing economic benefits in multiple sectors.
The park spans on more than 62,705 hectares, and it is rich in forests, grasslands, glacial lakes, watercourses and diverse geomorphology. The region is characterized by high mountains whose peaks easily exceed 2,500 meters, with Titov Vrv being the highest peak, located at 2,748 meters above sea level. Within the boundaries of the park there are 27 villages with about 17,000 inhabitants, divided into seven municipalities: Jegunovce, Tearce, Tetovo, Bogovinje, Vrapcishte, Gostivar, Mavrovo and Rostusha.
As a part of the park is also Popova Shapka, the ski center which has 3 cable cars, several small and medium-sized ski lifts and 20 km of ski tracks. In the vicinity of the ski center there are several hotels, a large number of holiday homes for private accommodation and several restaurants. Mass tourism is mostly practiced in the winter period, while various types of alternative tourism are intensively developed year round.
