The mountain's slopes are clad in dense forests with numerous high-elevation clearings and meadows, steep cliffs, deep ravines carved by the nearby Drina River, and many karst caves.

[2] It encompasses Tara and part of the Zvijezda mountain, in a large bend of the Drina River.

The area of the park originally was 191.75 km2 (74.04 sq mi)[3][4][5] with altitudes varying from 250 to 1,591 m (820 to 5,220 ft) above sea level.

[10] Forests account for three quarters of the national park's area, 160 km2 (62 sq mi), some of them being the best preserved and well-kept in Europe.

Tara also boasts a rare endemic Tertiary species, the Serbian spruce which is now protected in the small area of the park.

Because of its rarity and scientific importance, it has been placed under national protection as it can only be found on two locations on Tara: the canyon of the Mileševka river and on the Zvezda massif.

Several hundred of them have been described and compiled in assorted manuals and monographies: sessile oak, alder buckthorn, beech, dog rose, black elder, largeleaf linden, black pine, Serbian spruce, common yarrow, couch grass, sticklewort, green-winged orchid, gentiana, greater celandine, European holly, common mallow, coltsfoot, chamomille, lemon balm, oregano, cowslip, comfrey, dandelion, burn nettle, orange mullein.

Rare species include Pančić's grasshopper (Pyrgomorphella serbica), endemic cricket Balkan isophya discovered in 1882 by Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl and aspen longhorn beetle, which in Serbia lives only on this location.

135 bird species make their temporary or permanent homes on the slopes of the mountain, including golden eagle, griffon vulture, peregrine falcon, Eurasian eagle owl, spotted nutcracker, Eurasian bullfinch, crossbill, black woodpecker, rock partridge and black grouse.

As their number grew, despite having feeders they began causing damage to local orchards and apiaries but have not attacked livestock nor the villagers.

The tracking shows that females, especially with cubs, occupy a compact area, but males range more widely travelling west, crossing the Drina into Bosnia where hunting is permitted.

[16] In the fall of 2021, a 15-year-old bear named Aleksandar (after Alexander the Great) was equipped with the GPS collar camera.

Footage until August 2022, when he managed to tear the collar, proved that he indeed was an alpha bear on the mountain.

He was feeding at the mangers and "enjoyed" spending time with two she-bears in this period, but he mostly was just calmly wandering all over.

[17] Work published in May 2018 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America journal by the research team from the Northumbria University revealed that the locality "Crveni Tepih" shows the evidence of the oldest lead pollution in Europe.

On the locality of "Borovo Brdo" near Kaluđerske Bare, a Slavic pottery from the 6th and 7th century was found.

They are made in different shapes: slab, box, gable roof, slightly dressed rectangular stones, etc.

Due to the heavy forestation, during the Ottoman rule Tara was the hiding place for the hajduks.

Exhibits from that period are kept in the Railway Park "Bela Voda" [sr], near the spring of the same name.

They include the "maginot railway wagon" for the ammunition transport during the World War I or the German locomotive from 1928.

[12] The main tourist points are Kaluđerske Bare on the north, close to Bajina Bašta, and Mitrovac on the south.

There is no sewage, so the waste is dropped directly into the lakes, streams and the Drina, while floating garbage covered areas around the barges.

Only the management of the national park publicly and officially protested, but neither the state nor the municipal authorities reacted.

The monks translated texts from Ancient Greek, wrote histories, and copied manuscripts.

They translated and copied not only liturgical but scientific and literary works of the period so the history of Serbian literature is owing a lot to it.

Turkish travel writer, Evliya Çelebi noted in his travelogue of 1630 that in Rača Monastery there were 300 monk scribes, who were served by 400 shepherds, blacksmiths, and other staff.

Gendarmerie lieutenant colonel Jaraković handed over the Miroslav Gospel to hegumen Platon Milojević in 1941, who kept it during the war.

It is noted for the writing near the entry doors "Slaviša, with his Mrs. Ana, lodged here in 1905", which is today considered as the oldest date when the tourism on Tara began to develop.

The Vrelo is considered the shortest river in Serbia, being only 365 m (1,198 ft) long, which is why it has been nicknamed the "Year".

[12][24] Next to the Zaovine Lake the photovoltaic solar power plant "Brana Lazići" was built.