PAKLENICA CANYON |NATURE PARK | CROATIA YACHT CHARTER | General INFO -Islands SILBA & OLIB | Suggested routes, holidays, exclusive, yacht charter, sailing, flights, about, islands, coast, beach, summer,

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Paklenica The canyon lies on the south, the sea-facing side of the Velebit range. It was proclaimed a national park not long after Plitvice, also in 1949, but here the tradition of preservation has a somewhat longer history.

Paklenica along with a number of other areas was designated a national park in 1928 but, unfortunately, on the basis of an inadequate law with only temporary validity. Paklenica is only a small part of Croatia's most interesting mountain range of Velebit mountain, but it is one of the most distinctive and richest in natural beauty and interest. Its unique canyons, called Velika and Mala Paklenica, and the four hundred meter-high cliffs make it different from all other national parks. Paklenica’s rich flora and fauna (with many endemic species, such as griffon vulture), its karstic relief (with the so-called Manita Pec) and numerous sports activities (such as mountain climbing, free-climbing, hiking, trekking, horseback riding and bird watching) are attracting an increasing number of tourists.

The name applies to two deep gorges, Velika (Big) and Mala (Little) Paklenica, which cut across the mountain massif leading from the sea to just below the highest peak. They are the only indentations in the otherwise uninterrupted body of the mountain and the most magnificent results of erosions on the mountain of Velebit. In the upper parts of these gorges is one of the largest forests on the seaward side of Velebit. One must remember that when Paklenica was declared a national park the forest was in great danger of overfilling. There was no income from tourism at that time, nor was there electricity or gas, and the local people relied in great measure on the use of the Paklenica forests .

The gorges end right beside the seashore and the Adriatic high-way with its tourist traffic, or perhaps they could be said to start here because this is the place from which almost all visitors enter the
national park. It is the part that is most often visited and is most interesting. The mountain torrents of Velika and Mala Paklenica have cut deep gorges in the mountain and cliffs, and rise dizzily up 300-400 metres above the walking path that winds its way along the valley floor. This pleasant trail, easily accessible at all times of the year, is only in Velika Paklenica. For Mala Paklenica good physical condition and the proper equipment are needed.

Today the torrent stream is in full spate only after rain or when the snow in the hinterland is melting, so the depth of the gorge is surprising. But it was not always so. During the last ice age rock fragmentation was greater and there were no forests in the Paklenicas catchments area to give protection from erosion. The force of the streams was then much greater than it is today and so they were able to form the only "valleys" along
the shores below the Velebit mountain.. It is only here that the mountain towers above long beaches, formed from gravel that was forced through the narrow gorges.

Note that there are no facilities for cash withdrawal yet and only hotel allows you to pay by credit card.

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