Northern Velebit National Park

Northern Velebit is the emptiest national park in Croatia and the hardest to reach. The road up from the coast climbs to Zavizan at around sixteen hundred metres, where a weather station has recorded some of the country's lowest temperatures and a small botanical garden collects the mountain's endemic plants. Beyond it lies a landscape of limestone towers and deep sinkholes known as the kukovi, closed as a strict reserve, whose old beech forest forms part of a transnational World Heritage listing of primeval beech forests across Europe. The Premuzic Trail, built in the nineteen thirties entirely of dry stone, threads through this terrain at a near constant gradient. Views run from the ridge straight down to the Kvarner islands.

What you actually see

• The Premuzic Trail - a dry stone walking route engineered across broken karst at an almost level gradient.
• Zavizan - the mountain station and weather post at the top of the access road, with a small alpine botanical garden.
• The kukovi - fields of limestone towers and pinnacles in the strict reserve, visible from the trail.
• The seaward view - the ridge drops abruptly to the coast, with Rab, Pag and Krk laid out below.

When to go

Late June to October is the realistic season; snow closes the access road for much of the year and can linger into June. Weather changes fast and the ridge is exposed. Start early, since afternoon cloud commonly fills the valleys. Water sources on the plateau are essentially nonexistent, so carry everything you need.

Honest expectations

The access road is long, narrow and rough, and there is no public transport of any kind. Facilities amount to a couple of mountain huts with limited beds and no reliable supplies. The karst underfoot is sharp and ankle turning. The strict reserve is closed to entry, so the most dramatic rock scenery is seen from a distance rather than walked through.

Nearby

Senj sits on the coast below, and Paklenica National Park protects the southern end of the same range.