Plitvice Lakes National Park – Oldest and Largest

The Plitvice Lakes National Park which is the oldest and the largest park is located in Southeast Europe. It was founded in the year 1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia towards the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 The Croatian inland with the Adriatic coastal region is connected to the important north south road junction that passes through the national park area.The protected area spreads over 296.85 sq. km and about ninety percent of the areas are part of the Lika-Seni County and the remaining ten percent are part of Karlovac County.

In the year 1979, Plitvice Lakes National Park had been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list as the first natural sites worldwide and is world famous for its lakes which are arranged in cascades with over 1,200,000 visitors visiting this site every year.

The charges for entrance are variable, around $18USD or up to 110 kuna for adult during peak season where strict regulations are applicable.

Beautiful Lakes/Waterfalls/Caves

It contains many beautiful lakes, waterfalls and caves and currently there are sixteen lakes which can be seen from the surface which are the result of the confluence of some small rivers and subterranean karst rivers where the lakes get interconnected following the water flow.

These are separated by natural dams of travertine which gets deposited through the process of moss, algae and aquatic bacteria.

The sensitive travertine barriers are the outcome of the combination of air, water and plants where the bacteria and encrusted plant settle over each other thus forming travertine barriers which tend to grow at the rate of around 1 cm per year which continues till date.

The Plitvice Lakes basin is a geomorphologic formation of biological origin, a karst river basin made of limestone and dolomite with lakes that have been created through the deposits of calcium carbonate precipitated in the water besides the moss algae and aquatic bacteria, creating strange, characteristic shapes, containing travertine roofed as well as vaulted caves.

Fauna Rich 

The lakes are known for their awesome colours which range from azure to green, blue or grey which changes constantly based on the quantity of minerals or organism in the water together with the reflection of the sunlight.

The lakes are divided into 12 Upper Lakes or Gornja jezera and four Lower Lakes. It is also heavily forested with spruce, beech as well as fir trees, featuring a combination of Alpine and Mediterranean vegetation and a wide variety of plant communities due to its range of micro climate, varying levels of altitude and differing soils.

The Plitvice Lakes National Park is also a home to a large variety of animals and bird species which is fauna rich comprising of the European brown bear, eagle, owl, lynx, wild cat, wolf and capercaille are found, together with several additional common species.

Around 126 species of bird have been recorded out of which 70 have been found to be breeding there. It is one of the most beautiful natural wonder of Croatia with its various number of waterfalls combined with beautiful landscape, together with the wildlife of a variety of species.

The special attraction include the Veliki Splat, which is a 100 ft. waterfall surrounded by boulders which enables tourist to access the site.