National Park North Velebit

National Park North Velebit

The National Park North Velebit (Croatian: Nacionalni park Sjeverni Velebit) was declared in 1999 a national park and is located in the northern part of the Velebit mountain massif near the town of Senj on the Adriatic.
The area is 109 square kilometers. The National Park offers superb views, high climbing cliffs and numerous caves.
In 1992 there was Lukina Jama (Luke Cave) discovered the previously deepest known cave in South Eastern Europe (1392 m). The region with its magnificent karst formations is a worthwhile destination for hikers with the long-distance footpath Premužič staza, climbers (i Hajdučki Rožanski kukovi), speleologists (Lukina Jama), botanist (Botanical Garden on Zavižan) and nature lovers in general.

The National Park is within the biosphere reserve "Velebit Mountain" by UNESCO. The widest part of the Velebit extends from the Vratnik Pass (698 m) on the road Otočac-Senj to Veliki Alan (1379 m). to bare rock above the Velebit Channel pile up on the sea side and the land side extends a wooded plateau.

On Zavižan (1594 m) is a mountain lodge and a botanical garden; an excellent starting point for cycling and horseback riding; a challenge for experienced mountain bikers, climbers, fliers and speleologists. The ridge path "Premužič staza" leads through the reserve Rožanski kukovi and by the strictly protected reserve Hajdučki kukovi and offers magnificent views of the sea and the islands to the island of Rab.

INFORMATION ON THE NATIONAL PARK

• Photos
• Video
• Panorama
• Map
• Getting there

Photos

Video

Map

Getting There

The easiest arrival route crosses the town Otočac. You can reach Otočac by taking the highway Zagreb-Split or use the highway that crosses Josipdol towards Senj, and drive over the Kapela pass. From the highway, take the road to Krasno, where the building of the park administration is. Another arrivals is the road to Štirovača, leading to the south-eastern part of the park. If arriving from the coast, there is also a road from Jablanac, but which is rather not recommendable, because it is very narrow and tight. Should you choose this route, you reach the park from the southwest at the Alan mountain lodge. In addition, the park can be reached on paved roads through the villages Mrkvište, Ledena Draga, Begovača and Štirovača. And if you want, you can take the trails from the coast, and this for direction Brisnice and Gornja Klada.

The Hajdučki- and Rožanski kukovi nature reserves. Where the rock group the Rožanski summit is slightly more accessible than the difficult terrain of karst rocks of Hajducki kukovi. The landscape is wild and inaccessible and there are still many places that were hardly ever entered by people, and therefore still preserve the aura of the unknown and unexplored. In 1993 here the Lukina Jama was discovered a cave that the deepest cave in Europe is with a depth of 1392 meters - and the world is on the eighth place of the cave depth.

• The pastures of Veliki Lubenovac - A beautiful terrain near the Hajdučki- and Rožanski kukovi nature reserve.
• The Premuzic path - He performs the most beautiful and interesting parts of the park
• The Visibaba - A botanical reserve.
• The steep slopes of the Zavižan-Balinovac-Velika kosa, a strictly protected botanical garden.
• The Borov vrh forest reserve.

Interesting events:

The International Mountain Day on 11 December.
The celebration of International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May.

Accommodation:

The National Park Sjeverni Velebit offers basic accommodation in mountain huts. In the town of Krasno you can also find hotels and private accommodation.

Refuges:

Mountain lodge Zavižan (20 beds), where you can stay and there is also the possibility to cater for yourself (eg. As tea, coffee, beer and simple food). During the tourist season, you can also ride.
Mountain lodge Veliki Alan (46 beds 5 rooms) .You located in the south-western part of the park and can comfortably either on foot, descending, reaches from Premuzic path, or by car from the coast from Jablanac. In the Alan mountain lodge visitors can find also food. You can register here recover and prepare for the onward journey to the coast, or you continue walking on the Premuzic path. Here www.plsavez.hr / hr / Planinarska_kuća_Alan for details.