Pelister – peak of Mountain Baba

On the south of the Republic of Macedonia is the Mountain Baba located between Pelagonia on the east, and Prespa Lake on the west. The moutain has very steep sides with a meridian direction of extention.

According to its height, Mountain Baba belongs to the group of high mountains. There are four different vegetation levels distinct for the European Alpines and the east-mediterian type. The first level consists of deciduous forest (oak, beech, ash ect.), the second level is evergreen forest (pine, fir, juniper ect.), the third is pastures. The fourth level consists of vegetation communities of tetter. An endemic species grows in the forest of this mountain which is the trademark of the mountain because of its rarity. That is the Molika tree – a black pine tree by which Mountain Baba is very famous. The molika forest is protected by the law and is part of the National Park Pelister that covers an area of 12 000 hectares.

Many remedial herbs and forest fruits grow in the park. The most imposing peak of Baba is Pelister. Its height is 2601m, the third in the Republic of Macedonia (after Korab 2764m and Titov Vrv 2748m).

As a result of the glaciers two mountain lakes, or as people usually call them “mountain eyes” came to existence. They are called the "Big Lake" and the "Small Lake". They cover an area of 2218m, i.e. 2110m. Beside them, Mountain Baba is famous for the rocky rivers that can be seen on Pelister from 1300m up to 2000m. In actual fact, they are big broken rocks.

A large number of rivers spring from Mountain Baba among which the most popular is River Dragor. The waters of these rivers fill up the dam Strezevo.

Different wild life species such as bears, wolves, deer, wild boars, rabbits etc. live on Mountain Baba. As a result the development of hunting tourism is made possible. Mountain Baba has also favourable conditions for developing winter and summer tourism, and the accommodation capacities Kopanki and Strezevo are suitable for this use.

Part of the rich fauna