Travel Guide Parc National Des Monts Šar

The Šar Mountains National Park (Национален Парк Шар Планина/Nacionalen Park Šar Planina, Parku Kombëtar Mali Sharr) covers 620.7 km2, west of Tetovo and Gostivar. It runs along the border with Kosovo between Jažince (Јажинце, Jazhinca), 28 km northeast of Tetovo, and Vrutok (Вруток, Vërtoku), 9 km southwest of Gostivar. There is the ski resort of Popova Šapka and 27 villages with a total of about 17,000 inhabitants (mostly Albanians). The national park is bordered in its eastern part by the A 2 highway and the R 1203 and R 1206 roads. But access into the park itself is rare, except for the roads connecting the ski resort of Popova Šapka and the villages of Večala and Bozovce. Bus connections: numerous between Tetovo and Gostivar; planned bus routes from Tetovo to Jažince and Bozovce (inquire).Created in 2021, the most recent of the four national parks of Northern Macedonia has few tourist facilities, except for the large ski resort of Popova Šapka. But the landscapes are magnificent with a dozen peaks at over 2,500 m altitude, forests that cover 75% of the park, small mountain lakes and a rich biodiversity that can be discovered through hiking trails, not always well marked but frequently used by local Albanian shepherds. The latter preserve strong traditions inherited from the Illyrians, especially in the mountain villages of Selce and Bozovce.