- Condition: ** sheet
- Year: 2014-09-03
The Beskid Mountains are located in northeastern Moravia in Wallachia, in the southeast of Czech Silesia, in southern Poland, and in northern Slovakia in the Orava region. The Beskids are mostly forested mountains with rounded peaks, with rocks only occasionally protruding from the surface. The highest peak is Babí hora (1725 m), located on the border between Poland and Slovakia in the area of the Orava and the Zywiec Beskids.
The Beskids generally have the character of central mountains permeated by a number of aulacogen and basin depressions. Typically, they are a range of parallel mountains arranged one after the other and bound to the occurrence of more resistant rocks. They usually contain smoothly sculpted reliefs, whose morphology reflects the composition of flysch rock substrate (sandstones, conglomerates and clay stone shale). Shunting movements are common on the steep slopes. The original forest cover has been broadly reduced and the species altered in favor of spruce. Towards the east, grassy areas called plateaus are gaining ground. Their use in the 15th to 17th century helped pastoral colonization to spread.
The Moravian-Silesian Beskids tower over the Frenštat valley and are hemmed in from the south by the Rožnov valley. The Ostravice River divides them into two groups of mountains. To the east there are the Lysa hora, Travný and Ropice peaks. West of the Ostravice River the range of resistant peaks (Smrk, Kněhyně and Radhošť) decreases and with it the whole Radhošť upland. Smrk is separated from it by the deep Čeladenka valley. South of the Rožnov valley, the Vsetín hills continue (Vysoka, Vsacka Tanečnice), which are characterized by gradual slopes; overall, the local landscape has gentle, soft shapes. The Hostýn hills (Klečský Javorník, Hostýn) connect to this group to the west of the flow of the Vsetínska Bečva River, falling quite steeply to the north.
The Beskids are home to typical mountain and forest animals, such as deer, wild boar, foxes, martens, badgers, bears, wolves, lynxes and wild cats. Visitors can also see birds, such as tits, thrushes, woodpeckers, wood grouse, lesser-spotted eagles, short-toed eagles, buzzards, ravens, hazel grouse and eagle-owls.
