Plitvice Lakes National Park lies roughly midway between Zagreb and Zadar. It’s magnificently scenic – forested hills enclose gorgeous turquoise lakes, which are linked by a series of waterfalls and cascades. Wooden footbridges and pathways snake around the fringes of the lakes – and under and across the rumbling water – for an exhilaratingly damp 18km. In 1979 Unesco proclaimed the Plitvice Lakes a World Heritage Site.The extraordinary natural beauty of the park merits visiting for a couple of days, but you can experience a lot simply on a day trip from Zadar or Zagreb. There’s no bad time to visit: in the spring the falls are flush with water, in summer the surrounding hills are greener, and in autumn there are fewer visitors and you’ll be treated to the changing colours of leaves.
THE NATURE OF PLITVICE LAKES
The Plitvice lake system is divided into upper and lower sections. The upper lakes, lying in a dolomite valley, are surrounded by dense forests and are linked by several gushing waterfalls. The lower lakes are smaller and shallower. Most of the water comes from the Bijela and Crna (White and Black) Rivers, which join south of Prošćansko Lake, but the lakes are also fed by underground springs. In turn, water disappears into the porous limestone at some points only to re-emerge in other places. All the water empties into the Korana River near Sastavci Falls. The upper lakes are separated by dolomite barriers, which expand with the mosses and algae that absorb calcium carbonate as river water rushes through the karst. The encrusted plants grow on top of each other, forming travertine barriers and creating waterfalls. The lower lakes were formed by cavities created by the water of the upper lakes. They undergo a similar process, as travertine is constantly forming and reforming itself into new combinations so that the landscape is ever changing. This unique interaction of water, rock and plant life has continued more or less undisturbed since the last ice age. The lakes’ colours also change constantly. Most of the time they’re a surreal shade of turquoise, but hues shift with the quantity of minerals and organisms in the water, rainfall and the angle of sunlight. On some days the lakes can appear more jade green or steely grey. The luxuriant vegetation of the national park is another delight. The northeastern section of the park is covered with beech forests while the rest is covered with beech, fir, spruce and white pine, dotted with patches of whitebeam, hornbeam and flowering ash, which change colour in autumn. The stars of the park are bears and wolves, but there are also deer, boar, rabbits, foxes and badgers. Look out for bird species including hawks, owls, cuckoos, kingfishers, wild ducks and herons, and occasionally black storks and ospreys.
History
A preservation society was founded in 1893 to ensure the protection of the lakes, and the first hotel was built here in 1896. The boundaries of the national park were set in 1951 and the lakes became a major tourism attraction until the civil war (which actually began in Plitvice on 31 March 1991, when rebel Serbs took control of the park headquarters). Croatian police officer Josip Jović became the war’s first victim when he was killed here in the park. Rebel Serbs held the area for the war’s duration, turning hotels into barracks and plundering park property. The Croatian army retook the park in August 1995, and a long programme to repair facilities began. Today, Plitvice is well and truly back on the map, and you’ll encounter groups of tourists from as far away as Korea, South America and Russia as you explore these remarkable lakes and waterfalls.
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