The final boundaries of the Park were expanded in 2012 to cover an area of . The park occupies the northwest sections of the mountain's main massif, including the highest peak, Bistra, an spreads over the sections of Prevalac, Ošljak, Ostrovica and Kodža Balkan. The park encompasses several different types of topographic relief: glacial (cirques, moraines and glacial lakes), periglacial (snow cirques, sliding blocks, "tundra mosaic" type of micro-shapes in the deposits of silt), karstic and fluvial. There are numerous rivers, springs, creeks, bogs and lakes. In total, there are 1,800 plant species. The mountain is inhabited by 175 strictly protected plant species, 247 Balkan endemites and 18 plants which can be found only on Šara. The park includes the endemic relict Macedonian Pine and white-bark pine, as well as the mugo pine and Alpine rose. Other perennial plants include King Alexander's yarrow ("Achillea alexandri-regis"), Nikolić's silene ("Heliosperma nikolicii"), "Bornmuellera dieckii", Šar carnation ("Dianthus scardicus Wettst."), Doerfler's cinquefoils and Macedonian meadow saffron ("Colhicum macedonicum"). One of the relic species is Natalie's ramonda. It went extinct from the most of Europe during the last ice age and today grows as an endemic species in several gorges in Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece. It has been chosen as the Serbian symbol for the Armistice Day. Rusenica locality on the mountain has been in the first level of protection, as the strict reserve of nature, since 1955. It is one of the rare habitats of Balkan lynx, the largest European cat. It is estimated that on the entire Balkans there are no more than 100 specimens. European pond turtle and Hermann's tortoise, only two European species of freshwater turtles, live on the mountain. There are 147 butterfly species (excluding moths), 45 amphibians and reptilians and 37 mammalian species. Other animals include bear, chamois, wolf, roe deer, wild boar and other species including many bird species. The national park contains 720 chamois while the Opoja and Gora region contains 600 chamois.