Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

28-29 June 2019

We award our first “Mini Wow” to this park!

Getting here

OK. Even GPS navigation (as opposed to cell tower) can be a bust. We had our first failure with Garmin as we drove toward our lodging for the night, deep in the rural countryside. We ended up in someone’s yard. They did not speak English. We do not speak Croatian. But we understood what they were saying (sort of)! We were only five kilometers off, but on the right side of the main road.

Finally made it to our Croatian chalet by 3:30 and headed out to see the park.

Lakes, waterfalls, and a whole variety of paths

Robert learned years ago that water is a prime attractor for wildlife. They can’t live without it. Turns out tourists are the same, but perhaps for different reasons.

This park is the jewel of the Croatian national park system. Set deep in a canyon, the linear park is comprised of a series of lakes that have been dammed by calcium deposits building up over time. Because the calcium is porous, water spills through cracks much like at Burney Falls in Northern California. Except, there are dozen and dozens of falls between the lakes here. Tall. Short. Some few in spots. Some many. Water everywhere, with the roar of the falls always present.

The first day we arrived at the park in early evening and hiked four miles on the paths along the lakes from one end of the park. The second day we started from the other end and hiked six miles along the water. The stretch between these two segments is connected by trails, an electric boat shuttle, and a bus shuttle.

On the second day, our timing was right to get on the boat shuttle. After a couple of hamburgers at the concession stand, we took a look at the line for the boat back. It looked like at least a two-hour wait. We took the bus shuttle instead.

The Walks

Equal to experiencing the lakes and waterfalls are the walks. They by no means meet any standard known in the USA and that makes them so much fun to navigate. It started with the pedestrian bridge over the main road, connecting the parking to the park entrance. The bridge is a version of the bridge in the Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park, except on steroids. Not good for roller luggage as evidenced by the Korean tourists maneuvering theirs on the road below. Robert noted how each step bent as we stepped onto the bridge. Waaaaay too much a span.

The paths take on all forms. Some decomposed rock. Some weather-worn wood. Some with rails. Mostly not. In a few places metal rails. Usually just wide enough to slip by a hiker coming in the opposite direction. A two-inch step up here. A six-inch step down there. Completely unpredictable. We both stumbled a few times but didn’t fall down, so we can call them charming.

The paths wind through the landscape and fork when needed. The are usually just inches above the moving water, which is delightful. All maintain the intimate scale with the surrounding terrain and water, making our experience of connecting with the landscape intimate also.

The only thing not intimate about the experience is the huge number of tourists. On our second day, the crowds became so deep near a spectacular waterfall that a hundred or more people were simply stopped on the trail. We changed course and headed back a different way. One good thing about the tourists—not many Americans. A lot of Asians, but mostly Croatians.

The park is definitely worth a visit.

No GOT

In case we forget, we heard no mention of Game of Thrones (Finally!).

Hrana i Piće

Next stop—Ljubljana, Slovenia!