Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Sorry for the delay – We have been so busy and I have run out of steam.

Tuesday 8th November 2022
Time for another big day out!
Our plan for today is about an 16-18km walk around the Plitvice Lakes National Park. We will start from our accommodation adding an extra 1km at the beginning and end of the day just for good measure and to save about $15 in parking.

Believe it or not, we left our apartment at 7.59am. It was only 5°C and very chilly. The sun was up but not high enough to give warmth. Anyway, we were on our way. A 1km walk to the entrance of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, for a day of waterfalls and beautiful lakes. We had a bonus reduction in ticket cost as someone yesterday sold us their 2nd day tickets for half price. Ticket price was 80.00kn each and they sold them to us for 10euro.

Once we arrived we headed down to the first waterfall, it was so high, about 80m I think. It was magnificent, we continued walking all day between the upper and lower lakes, passed many waterfalls, and series of waterfalls, on the most amazing boardwalks weaving between the lakes and waterfalls. It was the most beautiful national park. There is about 22km of boardwalks and trails in the park, we managed to walk about 25km as we doubled up on a couple of paths. The boardwalks and bridges are made of chestnut timber and the maintenance of these is continuous. They work on the trails daily and replace about 2km or boardwalks annually. They are quite amazing, they have a real rustic feel about them, no stiletto heels here as the slats do not butt up to each other at all and they are quite haphazard in their placement. The boat connects the Lower and Upper Lakes and enables you to get the 2km to the Upper Falls section without walking around the lake. As you probably already know, we walked the whole park, and extra later in the day to take advantage of the low light for better photos but we did do a couple of trips on the boat just to experience this view as well. All in all it was a lovely day. We got home at about 5pm, so we were on the go for 9 hours with only a short stop for lunch plus the 2 x 15min boat trips. The walking was own pretty good trails and boardwalk with only about 500m ascent and descent over the 25km, so although we walk almost continuously, to was a difficult walk.

David struggled with the day as he had seen so many photos during his research that he was a little disappointed as the trees had lost there leaves and rather than beautiful green forests or autumn colours surrounding the lakes and waterfalls it was bare trees which impacted the beauty markedly. We were probably just 2 weeks too late, but it was still beautiful all the same. He also didn’t manage to see a lynx, pine marten, wolf or bear. We did see a few birds though. After the big day we just had an extra km down hill to our home at the edge of the park. It was a beautiful little apartment again, we have managed to book the most incredible places our entire time away. There has been only a couple that were a little tired but even these had there good points.

We have one more day in Croatia before we head to Ben in Germany.

Plitviče Lakes National Park is a 295-sq.-km forest reserve in central Croatia. It’s known for a chain of 16 terraced lakes, joined by waterfalls, that extend into a limestone canyon. Walkways and hiking trails wind around and across the water, and an electric boat links the 12 upper and 4 lower lakes. The latter are the site of Veliki Slap, a 78m-high waterfall. The first trails were constructed on the Upper Lakes in 1888, and then on the Lower Lakes in 1894.

: As we leave our beautiful apartment and walk the 1km to the Plitvice Lakes National Park..

: ..This is the first view we see of the lower lakes waterfalls..

: ..as we head along the boardwalk passed the beautiful crystal clear waters..

: ..along the cliff faces..

: ..and up passed the terraced waterfalls..

: ..it really was quite magnificent..

: ..if you focus on this image eventually you can see the many, many fish in the water..

: ..and the reeds through the smooth waters..

: ..we arrive at the top of the upper lake just in time to catch the boat,

: ..the steam was coming off the water..

: ..we then continue around towards the upper lake..

: ..the water was a beautiful colour..

: ..as we walk passed more falls..

: ..amazing reflections with a very large waterfall..

: ..looking down to the same waterfall..

: ..see the boardwalk through the middle of the lakes..

: ..David looking at another waterfall with amazing colour..

: ..as the path winds up through the forest and autumn leaves..

: ..and another waterfall..

: ..great facilities for resting around the lakes..

: ..the path weaved through the lakes, switch backs to the waterfalls..

: ..this was a magnificent waterfall..

: ..I loved the rustic timber boardwalk and stairs..

: ..another beautiful lake..

: ..and incredible colours..

: ..love the clouds..

: ..time to use your imagination and put green leaves on all the trees with the magnificent colour in the lake..

: ..this waterfall was amazing with large water flow all around but imagine it after heavy rainfall it would be spectacular..

: ..as we walk through the autumn leaves, 2 weeks ago the leaves would have still been on the trees..

: ..looking at the beautiful reflections as we wait for another boat..

: ..to get us across to the homeward stretch..

: ..another look in a different light at this magnificent waterfall,,

: ..how many faces can you see on this wall..

: ..enjoy the colours..

: ..and the earlier waterfall in different light..

: ..as we reach the top and look down at the upper and lower lake..

: ..from up above the colours are spectacular as the path weaves its way through the lakes..

: ..we come to the stairs that switchback..

: ..down to the cave..

: ..as we continue down..

: ..the steep steps..

: ..into the cave..

: ..looking back up to the path..

: ..and out the window..

: ..then head further around the cliff face..

: ..on the boardwalk..

: ..the water is amazing….

: ..the falls are under the bridge today, I wonder if the water ever goes over the boardwalk..

: ..heading back to the big waterfall from 8.30am this morning..

: ..to see the twilight colours..

: ..it was quite spectacular..

: ..as we head back up, the falls are coming from all directions..

: ..what an amazing day..

: ..and amazing waterfalls..

: ..as we head back up after a very long day..

: ..falls, falls and more falls..

: David was on the lookout for all these animals today – The lynx is the most mysterious of the large predators which inhabit the forests of the National Park. It hides from people very skillfully and only the lucky ones will be able to catch sight of it in nature. As for their diet, they prefer even-toed ungulates – deer. 8 individuals have been recorded in the forests of the Park.

: ..Pine marten (Martes martes) A stealthy forest species named after the golden spot on the underside of its neck. It used to be relentlessly hunted because its fur was highly valued and served as a means of payment, hence the name for today’s Croatian currency, the kuna (the animal is called kuna zlatica in Croatian). This small, slender and agile animal is a predator which feeds mostly on small mammals, birds and bird eggs. It lives in the treetops and is very difficult to sight, unlike its relative, the white marten, which can often be found near people..

: Bear (Ursus arctos) Although it is the largest beast in Europe, its diet is mostly plant-based. The meat portion of its diet is mainly based on insect larvae, and it will gladly eat an animal carcass. This species requires a very large habitat to meet its needs. It has been recorded that about 20 individuals of this species live in the National Park at any given time. However, none of them has a habitat exclusively within the Park, but the Park is only a part of their movement area..

: ..and Wolf (Canis lupus) They live in highly organized family groups called packs, usually consisting of 3-5 individuals. They are large predators and very skilled hunters. A symbol of strength and freedom. Because of their way of life, people are in constant conflict with them. Their territories are vast, and the National Park area is occupied by 3 packs, and to each of them, the Park is only a part of their territory. Legally protected species.