Plitvice Lakes. Things to do, map and hidden gems

The Great Waterfall is the highest in Croatia: the Plitvica stream drops seventy-eight metres over a vertical cliff into the canyon where the river Korana begins. Unlike the other Plitvice falls, which form on the tufa barriers between the lakes, this one does not belong to the chain of lakes but comes in from the side, out of the Plitvica valley, and falls into the same hollow where the waters of the Lower Lakes meet. The volume changes greatly: in spring and after autumn rain the fall is powerful and throws up a mist that soaks the path, while in summer it thins to slender jets. A wooden bridge and steps lead to its foot, and a viewpoint above the canyon serves for the view from above.

Sastavci is the place where all the waters of the Plitvice chain finally meet: from the last lake, Novakovica Brod, the water spills over a run of cascades, and at the same time the Great Waterfall crashes into the same hollow from the side. Below that meeting begins the river Korana, which from here flows north into a canyon cut in limestone. The name comes from the joining of waters. A wooden bridge crosses the falls, and from it the whole scene is visible, while not far off steps climb toward entrance one. After rain there is more spray here than anywhere in the park, so gear and camera get wet quickly.

Proscansko is the first and highest lake in the chain, at six hundred and thirty-six metres above the sea, and the second largest in the park. It is fed by the Crna and Bijela rivers, which meet south of the lake and bring water from the forests of the Lika plateau; from Proscansko the whole system sets out, descending through sixteen lakes toward the Korana. The lake is elongated, ringed by dense beech and fir forest mirrored in the water, and its shore is mostly unbuilt and quiet, since the main routes pass further downstream. A path from the upper entrances leads to it, with several viewpoints. There are fewer people here than anywhere in the lake part of the park.

Galovacki Buk falls below Lake Galovac and is one of the highest waterfalls in the upper part of the park, with a drop of some twenty metres. The barrier the water crosses is broad and overgrown, so the flow splits into a series of jets of different strength that fall in cascades one below the other; for that reason the fall looks not like a single wall of water but like a stairway. The wooden walkway passes below the fall and over the shallow water at the bottom, and when the flow is strong the boards are wet and slippery. This is one of the most photographed places in the park and in summer movement slows here; it is best to come early in the morning.

Plitvice Lakes National Park was proclaimed in 1949 and is the oldest national park in Croatia; in 1979 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It covers nearly three hundred square kilometres of forest, and its core is a chain of sixteen linked lakes that descend in steps through a hundred and thirty-three metres, from Proscansko at six hundred and thirty-six metres down to Novakovica Brod. The lakes are separated not by rock sills but by tufa barriers, living deposits of limestone formed as it settles among mosses and algae and growing about a centimetre a year; that is why the landscape keeps changing. Bear, wolf and lynx live in the park. A visit takes from three to eight hours, depending on the route chosen.

Stari grad Dreznik is the remains of a fortification at the edge of the village of Dreznik Grad, on a rocky outcrop above the valley of the Korana. The fortification arose in the Middle Ages as the seat of the nobles who held this district, and over the centuries it was added to as defence required: first a tower and a wall, later bastions adapted to artillery, at a time when the border with the Ottoman Empire ran through here. Once the military danger passed, the building was abandoned and the villagers carried stone from it to build their houses. Today the defensive walls and foundations are visible, and the site is partly arranged with paths and explanatory panels.

Rastoke is a settlement at the confluence of the river Slunjcica with the Korana, twelve kilometres north of Plitvice, and one of the few examples of a village built on waterfalls. The Slunjcica here drops over tufa sills in dozens of small falls, and the houses are built directly on the rocks between them, so that water runs beneath the floor. The power of the water drove mills and fulling stamps for cloth, of which there were more than twenty at the peak; several have been restored and work as a demonstration. The settlement is walked by paths and small bridges, with a ticket, and the visit takes an hour. Rastoke lies on the way to Plitvice from the direction of Karlovac.

The wooden walkways are the main way of moving through the lake part of the park: there are about eighteen kilometres of them in all, running over the water, along the edges of the barriers and through the shallow parts of the lakes. They are built of timber from the surrounding forests and renewed regularly, since damp and tufa wear them quickly; tufa also settles on the boards, so parts of the walkway grow into the ground over time. On most stretches the walkways have no railings, which is deliberate, as railings would block the view and speed up decay. Stepping off them is forbidden, to protect the tufa barriers. The wood is wet and slippery, and in season one walks in a single direction, following the markings.

The Barac caves lie by Nova Krslja in the municipality of Rakovica, some fifteen kilometres north of Plitvice, and they were among the first in Croatia laid out for visitors: paths and lighting were installed as early as the end of the 19th century, when interest in the karst was at its height in Europe. The system consists of the Upper and Lower Barac caves, and the Upper one is open to visitors, several hundred metres long, with halls, formations and small underground pools. Bones of the cave bear and traces of human presence from prehistory were found in them. The guided visit takes some forty minutes; the temperature is around ten degrees, so warmer clothing is needed.

The electric boat carries visitors across Lake Kozjak and links the docks at the northern and southern ends, joining the route through the Lower Lakes with the one through the Upper. The boats run on electric power because internal combustion engines are not allowed in the park: oil and exhaust would damage the tufa, which is sensitive to any change in the water. The crossing takes some fifteen minutes and is the only way over the lake, since there is no shore path along its whole length. The boats run at short intervals in season, and less often or not at all in winter. The fare is included in the entrance ticket, and at peak hours there is a queue.

The panoramic train is a road train linking three stops in the park and used to move between distant parts of the chain of lakes, above all from the entrances to the start of the paths along the Upper Lakes. The vehicles are adapted to the protected area and run slowly, along the forest edge and with an open view down the valley. The ride between the end stops takes some fifteen minutes and is included in the price of the ticket, and in season it departs about every twenty minutes. For visitors who do not want to walk the whole route, the train and the electric boat make a combination with which most of the lakes can be seen in half a day. In winter it runs less often or not at all, depending on snow and on numbers.

Entrance one lies at the northern end of the park, by the settlement of Rastovaca, and is nearest to the Great Waterfall and the Lower Lakes; visitors who come in here go straight down the steps into the canyon and in a few minutes reach the viewpoint. At the entrance are ticket desks, information, a cloakroom and a car park, and in season tickets are sold for timed slots in order to limit the number of people on the paths. Buying ahead online is all but obligatory in summer. The shorter routes covering only the lower part of the lakes and lasting two to three hours start here, as do the longer ones that continue by boat across Kozjak toward the upper chain.

Korenica is a town some ten kilometres south of the national park and the administrative centre of this part of Lika. It lies in a field ringed by wooded hills, at almost seven hundred metres, so the winters are long and snowy and the summers short and cool. This is the nearest place with full infrastructure: shops, a pharmacy, a bank, a petrol station, a health centre and a bus station, which makes it practical for everyone staying in the villages around. Lodging in holiday houses has grown in Korenica and its surroundings, since prices are lower than by the park entrance. It is a fifteen-minute drive to the park along the main road.