Paklenica is a place where the Velebit mountains drop in a wall to the Adriatic. The national park, created in 1949, protects two gorges, Mala and Velika Paklenica, which cut into the limestone like a pair of knife wounds, with vertical walls up to four hundred metres high. The big wall of Anića Kuk is a famous climbing area, and on a clear day you can watch climbers as small as ants. Between the walls, the path winds through black pine and beech forest, with the sound of a stream and the smell of resin. Griffon vultures nest on the cliffs and often circle overhead, and the caves in the hills hold bats and old stories.
The park is a hiking place more than a riding one, so leave the bike at the entrance in Starigrad, a seaside village with about a thousand people, and walk up the gorge. The path is easy at first, with a wide track and good signs, and a stone hut about an hour in sells drinks. Ražanac, a little further south, is quiet and has beaches of pebbles.
The riding around the park is excellent. The coast road, the Jadranska magistrala, runs along the foot of the Velebit with the sea and islands on one side and bare grey slopes on the other, with long views, steady bends and sometimes strong wind, the bura, which can gust hard and make bikes lean. Behind the mountains, roads climb over passes to the plateau of Lika, toward Plitvice Lakes, with hairpins and cooler air. Fuel is sparse in the villages, so fill up in Zadar, a short ride south, before going on.
Summer is hot and busy, with crowds on the coast, so spring and autumn are better, when the light is clear and the mountains are still capped with snow. The sea is warm enough for a swim until October. After a walk, eat grilled fish or lamb from the spit in a village konoba, and drink a glass of local red wine while the sun sets behind the islands.