What is the largest national park in Croatia?

Did you know that the largest national park in Croatia has a total area of 29,685 hectares, of which 200 ha are lakes, 13,320 ha are forests, and the rest are grasslands and other areas. It is about the Plitvice Lakes National Park, which is located at an average altitude of 600 meters.

However, what is your average? The lowest point is at Korana bridge at 367 meters, and the highest is 1279 m at Seliški vrh. It has been under the protection of UNESCO since 1979. Sixteen larger and a considerable number of small lakes are connected in cascade by waterfalls. The height difference between the first lake, Prošćansko, and the last lake in the series, Novakovića Brod, is 134 meters.

Plitvice Lakes – Photo Dongchan Park – Pixabay

The largest amount of water is brought to the lakes by the Black and White  rivers, which merge into the Matica river, the waters of which flow into Prošćansko lake. The lakes are divided into the Upper Lake, located on a dolomite bedrock, and the Lower Lake, cut in a limestone canyon. That’s what the people called them, that’s how they divided them. The upper lakes consist of 12 lakes, among which the two largest lakes of the system, Kozjak and Prošćansko, the lower lakes account for only a small part of the lake surface and are represented by four lakes.

One waterfall on the lakes is different from all the others. It is the 78 m high Great Waterfall  and at the same time the highest in Croatia, and it differs from the others in its formation and appearance. It alone does not come from the lake, and doesn’t fall into the lake. The water that flows to the waterfall originates from the Plitvice stream.

Big Waterfall, Plitvice Lakes – Photo C_Rietsch – Pixabay

The Plitvice lakes are rich in plant and animal life and the unique phenomenon of travertine barriers. The area of the Park is adorned with as many as 58 species of orchids, including lady’s slipper. Plitvice forests are the habitat of bears, wolves, lynxes, hawk owls and otters.

There are seven more national parks in Croatia, namely: Brijuni, Kornati, Krka, Mljet, Paklenica, Risnjak and North Velebit.