Landscape-ecological evaluating of touring path in low tatra national park

With an ever increasing tempo of life, the need of rest and recreation comes to the forefront. The mounains here play a special role because of their aesthetic function. One of the very popular form of recreation is hiking. Low Tatra National Park is one of the areas with a continuous high level of hiking activity. In 2001 was evaluated the condition of the Low Tatra expres path in the region Durkovske sedlo-Demanovske sedlo. Crucial criterion for the evaluation was the character of the surface. Based on the accumulated data it was determined that the hiking path evaluated is considerably influenced by the heavy load of tourist activity. A large part of its surface is without sod or sod is considerably reduced. The most prevailing sort of surface is compact soil with ascended base rock with fractions. The least abundant sort of surface is compact base rock. As a possitive contribution to lower the erosion influences was evaluated the pavement. Similar precausions would be good to made on some other parts, mainly on more steep parts or on the parts missing vegetation shell, as well as on the parts with more parallel paths. Concerning the width, the most represented widths are middle wide and wide paths. It is caused by leaving the trace and consequent widening of the path.