Settlements and People in the Park

The villages and hamlets of TNP are strung out between 250 metres (the lowest-lying buildings of Zadlaz-Čadrg) and 1000 metres above sea level (Koprivnik in the Bohinj area) and even 1350 metres above sea level (the highest-lying structures of Goreljek).

Within its borders, the TNP incorporates 25 settlements with a total population of 2352 people. Ukanc and Bavšica are located in the central zone of the park, and the remaining 21 settlements are in the peripheral zone.

Two of these settlements are in the Radovna valley – Zgornja Radovna and Radovna. The little village of Perniki lies amidst the forests of the Mežakla plateau. The clustered village of Spodnje Laze nestles on the southern slope of this karst plateau, and Zgornje Laze is set on the plateau a good hundred meters higher. Only a small section of Spodnje Gorje and Krnica extends into the national park. The next little group of settlements rests on the southern slope of the karst Pokljuka plateau – the scattered villages of Podjelje, Koprivnik and Gorjuše. The village of Goreljek is located a few hundred meters higher. In the Upper Bohinj Valley two villages, Stara Fužina and Studor v Bohinju, are within the borders of the national park. Ribčev Laz is located on the south-eastern shore of Lake Bohinj in the Lower Bohinj Valley. The village Strmec na Predelu lies below the Predel pass. Further down, at the Koritnica river, Spodnji Log and Gorenji Log with several hamlets make up the elongated settlement of Log pod Mangartom. The people of Trenta live in numerous hamlets and on isolated farms, whose centre is the village Na Logu. Isolated farms and holiday cottages of the village Soča extend into the Vrsnik valley.

The scattered village of Lepena is located in the parallel glacial valley along the Lepenjica stream. The villages of Zadlaz-Čadrg and Zadlaz-Žabče stand on the remains of glacial terraces on the banks of the Zadlašica at the southern border of the park. At an altitude of nearly 1000m rests the village Tolminske Ravne, while the village of Čadrg is set on the remains of glacial terraces above the Tolminka gorge.
Local inhabitants make their living primarily through agriculture, tourism, wood processing industry, and iron industry and other activities.