The Zrmanja Canyon

The Zrmanja cuts a canyon up to about two hundred metres deep through the karst behind Velebit before opening into a sea inlet at Obrovac. The water is clear green and runs over a series of travertine steps and low waterfalls, which is why most people see it from a kayak or raft rather than from above. The rock walls are pale, bare and sharply layered, and the landscape was distinctive enough to stand in for the American west in a well known series of nineteen sixties films shot here. Clifftop viewpoints on the road above give the wider perspective, including the sharp bends where the river doubles back on itself.

What you actually see

• The travertine steps - low natural barriers and falls along the riverbed, run in kayaks in the paddling season.
• The clifftop viewpoints - roadside vantage points over the meanders and the two hundred metre walls.
• Berberov buk - one of the larger waterfalls on the river, a common stop on descents.
• The Obrovac inlet - where the canyon opens into a narrow arm of the sea reaching far inland.

When to go

April to June has the most water and the best paddling; by late July the river can be too low for full descents and operators shorten routes. September is a good compromise. The canyon is hot and shadeless at midday in summer. Book river trips ahead, since operators run set departure times and cancel in low water.

Honest expectations

Water levels dictate everything, and a dry summer can reduce the trip to dragging boats over shallow steps. Access to the river without a guide or a boat is limited, and the viewpoints are unfenced roadside stops with no facilities. Summer temperatures in the canyon are severe. The area is thinly populated with few services once you leave the main road.

Nearby

The Cerovac caves are east near Gracac, and Paklenica National Park is up the coast.