In the southern part of Rakhiv district, bordering with Romania, there is one of the most beautiful corners of the Ukrainian Carpathians — Rakhiv Mountains. This is truly a fabulous place, opening to the eye natural panoramas of unique beauty. That is probably why the interest of tourists from all over the country and abroad in the Rakhiv Mountains is growing every year.
Because of its peculiar landscape, the Rakhiv Mountains are often called the Hutsul Alps — there are many sharp «toothy» ridges, steep cliffs, and here and there ancient crystalline rocks rise to the surface. Such a landscape is not typical for any other part of the Ukrainian Carpathians, similar natural pictures cannot be found anywhere else in the country.
One of the most picturesque parts of the Rakhiv Mountains is the Marmarosh Protected Area, which stretches on its northern slope. The Ukrainian-Romanian state border runs along this massif, and since 1993 it has been part of the Karpatsky Biosphere Reserve.
The Marmarosh Massif is almost 9 thousand hectares of protected areas lying at an altitude of 750 to 1940 meters above sea level. Sharp mountain peaks, the highest of which is the Pop Ivan Marmarošský Mountain with the height of 1940 meters, rocky ridges, deep intermountain valleys — all the natural pictures that open to the eye here are striking with their beauty, monumentality and picturesqueness. The nature of the Marmaros Massif looks more like the Romanian Carpathians than the Ukrainian Carpathians — and this is another reason why it has been included in the list of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Its gloomy and austere, but amazingly beautiful landscapes are aspired to be seen by all visitors of the region; it is considered to be one of the most picturesque places in the Carpathians. Due to the difficulty of access to these places, they have been perfectly preserved since time immemorial, the nature here has remained pure, virgin and as beautiful as it was thousands of years ago.
The flora of the Marmaroše Reserve Massif is deciduous-coniferous, deciduous, primeval beech, fir forests. The boundary of the forests here is at an altitude of 1600-1700 meters, and above that the alpine and subalpine meadows spread out in a bright fluffy carpet. Here you can see many rare and endemic plants, including edelweiss, wild narcissus, snow vole, alpine tinwort and many other plants of amazing beauty.
Rakhiv MountainsThe fauna of Marmarosh is rich and interesting. Here lives the fastest living creature on the planet — a bird falcon-sapsan, capable of speeding more than 322 kilometers per hour! There are also many endemic species of insects in the reserve, which are not found anywhere else.
The Marmarosh reserve will surprise you not only with rare animals, high mountains and rocks, fabulous forests, but also with beautiful glacial high mountain lakes and healing mineral springs. As if fantastic mirrors, mountain lakes are scattered on the slopes of high mountains between heaven and earth — such pictures leave no one indifferent.
A trip to the Rakhiv Mountains and a visit to the Marmarosh Nature Reserve will be interesting for all connoisseurs of the beauty of pristine nature, admirers of its endless talent and unbridled imagination. All those who choose ecological tourism in Ukraine because of the opportunity to see with their own eyes breathtaking protected places and landscapes of fantastic beauty, to enjoy unity with nature, holidays in Rakhiv and hiking in the Rakhiv Mountains will leave unforgettable memories.
