Paklenica National Park and Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Paklenica National Park

   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.

   Read the complete Paklenica National Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Paklenica National Park is where the day begins. Next is Plitvice Lakes National Park.

2. 2. Plitvice Lakes National Park

   Plitvice is sixteen lakes arranged in a staircase, linked by waterfalls and bordered by beech and fir forest, all coloured an unreal turquoise by the minerals in the water. The lakes form because the water is rich in calcium carbonate, which settles out as travertine, or tufa, on moss and plants, building natural dams that grow slowly over the centuries. It is a living process, which is why the park is protected, and why visitors have to keep to the wooden walkways that wind across the water. UNESCO listed it in 1979, and it is today Croatia's most visited natural site.

   Read the complete Plitvice Lakes National Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Plitvice Lakes National Park comes up about 142 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi.

3. 3. Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi

   The Hajdučki and Rožanski Kukovi are a field of limestone towers in the northern Velebit, a landscape of pale spires, pinnacles and karst pavements that look like a city abandoned by giants. They sit in the Northern Velebit National Park, a long mountain range that parallels the Adriatic coast and shelters the Croatian interior from the sea. The sea is close, and the contrast is part of the appeal: bare white stone and wind above, blue water far below.

   Read the complete Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 260 km into the recorded legs you reach Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi. Next is back through Plitvice Lakes National Park.

4. 4. back through Plitvice Lakes National Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Plitvice Lakes National Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Plitvice Lakes National Park, late in the day. Next is Paklenica National Park.

5. 5. Paklenica National Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Paklenica National Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Paklenica National Park. That is the ride.