Poloniny

Poloniny National Park (Slovak: Národný park Poloniny) is a year-round destination located in the Upper Zemplín region of Eastern Slovakia. Set amidst mountains, UNESCO listed forests and alpine meadows (the poloniny), offers a mixture of natural and cultural attractions. The park attracts skiers in winter and hikers in summer, and from a cultural point of view, one can visit several 18th-century wooden churches.

History
Traces of occupation before the Middle Ages are few, with settlement really only starting in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Ulič, founded in 1450, is the oldest known village.

Historically, the region has been poor. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were marked by the departure of many young people who left to find work in town or emigrated to Western Europe or North America.

The First and Second World Wars caused much destruction in the region, resulting in the loss of the some of the wooden churches, including Runina, Jalova, Príslop and Dara.

During the communist period, the wooden churches of Zboj and Nová Sedlica were transferred to museums in Bardejovské Kúpele and Humenné. Electrification, paved access roads to the villages and the arrival of the first bus only date back to the late 1950s.

Lake Starina dam, built in the 1980s to provide drinking water to the east, resulted in the displacement of 3,500 people in seven villages upstream. This valley remains uninhabited and agricultural activity is prohibited.

The area was declared a national park on October 1, 1997.

Landscape
The park is the most eastern region of Slovakia and is the most sparsely populated country. The region belongs to the outer Eastern Carpathians and specifically the vrchy Bukovské (Bukovec Mountains). Kremenec, the highest peak at 1221 m, is located where the borders of Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine meet. The lowest point is 200 m, where the River Ulička enters the Ukraine. The highest peaks are located along the border between Poland and Slovakia. There is also a lower ridge in the southern portion of the park, which is split by Cirocha River valley north of the village of Stakčín, where the only access road to the park is located. Between these two sets of mountains are five valleys.

Flora and fauna
80% of the park is covered in forests, mostly beech, some of which have never been disturbed by logging or other human activities. Three of these areas — Stužica, Havešová and Rožok — were set aside as nature reserves before the national park was created, and were included in the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. On the ridges above the tree line are many alpine meadows, known as "poloniny", which gives the park its name.

The flora is mostly native species like the Eastern Carpathian mountains buttercup, purple hellebore, bellflower and Sweet William, as well as over 100 species of lichens.

The park is also known for wildlife. Large predators like the wolf, brown bear and the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) have always been present in the region. The bison, which had disappeared from the region was reintroduced. A small flock of five bison in 2004 has grown to nineteen by 2013.

Climate
The climate of the region is continental and strongly influenced by the relief. The annual average temperature is between 4° C and 8° C depending on the altitude and rainfall ranges from 800 mm to 1000 mm.

The valleys, up to an altitude of about 560 m, is the hottest area. Average temperatures in January are included there between -3° C and -5° C with an average of 120 days of snow cover between November and April. The crest on the Polish border is the coldest area with an average of 160 days of snow cover from November to April and average January temperatures are between -5 °C and -7 °C. Average temperatures in July are between 16 °C and 18 °C.

Extreme temperatures measured in the park will, in turn, from -31 °C to 37 °C.

By train
A railway line carrying a railcar Stakčín connects to the park entrance from Humenné.

By bus
The villages west of the park (Osadné, Hostovice) are accessible by bus from Humenné. All villages including Osadné and Hostovice are connected by regular bus service from the bus station in Snina.

By car
From Humenné and Snina, take road 74 to road 558, the only road that enters the park.

Get around
Apart from a few buses, private cars, cyclists or hikers, visiting this area is limited for protection of the natural environment. Access by car to the old abandoned villages upstream of the Starina dam lake is permitted only with a pass which may be issued by the district administration in Snina or by the park administration in Stakčín.

Cycling
The low traffic of this sparsely populated region is a great for cyclists. The majority of motor roads are marked with a "C" on a white background.

The road Stakčín-Starina dam-Ulič-Nová Sedlica is marked in blue, the Topola-Ruské route is marked in yellow and the road between Starina-Ulič and Ruský Potok. The road Stakčín-Starina dam-Ruské-Ruské sedlo, marked in green, is connected to the Polish signposted cycle network. The last-road Stakčín-Kalná Roztoka-Ulič, marked in yellow, is located south of the park.

Eat
Much of the lodging is in old houses that have been converted to tourist accommodation, so they often come with kitchens and cooking utensils. Food can be purchased as village grocery stores.

The Kremenec guest house (in Nová Sedlica) and Poloniny guest house (in Ulič) also have restaurants.

Stay safe
There are many police patrols in the immediate vicinity of the Ukrainian border areas, European Union border and the Schengen area. It is best to have their identity documents always with you to avoid any inconvenience in case of control.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is present in the park - requiring certain precautions. The bear has a good smell and hearing, but pretty average sight. Making noise or talking should be enough not to meet him. Do not follow its the footsteps. Upon meeting, do not approach it and move away without running. If the bear is with her cub, avoid standing between them at all cost. If you stay overnight in tents, either hide the food very well, or keep it (far) away from you.

Go next

 * Humenné - largest city in the far north-eastern Slovakia. It is the terminus of several international and national long-distance trains. In the outdoor museum of the city, you can admire the wooden church from Nová Sedlica and other buildings from the villages of the park.
 * Snina - town closest to the Poloniny park, there are several possibilities of accommodation and catering as well as supermarkets and banks
 * Bieszczadzki National Park - The adjacent Polish national park is also a very sparsely populated and wooded area with more bison than the Slovak side. It is accessible by hiking several marked trails or bike through the neck of Ruské sedlo. By car, access is via a detour through Medzilaborce.
 * Ouj National Park - The "connected" Ukrainian national park is accessible only through the border post of Ubla. Natural sites, traditional wooden architecture, the site where a meteorite fell in 1866 marked hiking trails can be motivation to cross the border and discover villages where time has stopped.