Walking Through The Plitvice National Park
/The Plitvice Lakes area has been recognized as a prized tourist location for over 200 years and the Plitvice Hotel was built to enhance the tourist experience. The Plitvice Hotel, located on the west side of the park facing Lake Kozjak, is left over from the Tito Communist era.
The incredible views from the walkways were beyond anything we could have imagined and the drenching rain, if anything, added to the excitement of the day.
The hotel’s distinctive no-nonsense approach to architecture gave us the “this is the necessary basics” feeling. The rooms are large and comfortable. The food, breakfast and dinner, while without culinary flourish was very satisfying.
The hotel and food are not the reason for people to travel to the park about an hour and a half west of Senj on the coast.
The Plitvice National Park, established in 1949 (and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979) lies on the eastern edge of Croatia near the Bosnia and Herzegovina boarder. The park consists of 16 lakes, 12 upper and four lower, lying in a North-South line fed by the Korana River.
Walking paths follow the shores of the lakes taking you close to each of the seven major waterfalls. Wide boardwalks cut across the lake at strategic points giving views of the crystalline water and connecting to side paths for spectacular views, up and close, of the waterfalls.
Sara stands looking at the landing between the upper lakes and the lower lakes. The upper lake trail ends at south end of Lake Kozjak. There is a short ferry ride across the lake to the landing on the north shore of Lake Koziak. Because of the rains the landing was under about 3 feet of water.
When I first heard about Plitvice Lakes I thought what a magical place. To be that close to the dynamic nature of the elements. I would be able to feel the connection to the waters, see the reflections of the mountains and hear the roaring waterfalls. To be in the midst of these sensations while seeming to skim across the lake’s surface (over the boardwalks) would be an experience like none other.
Finishing breakfast that morning, we watched as the rain beat against the windows. How to classify it, more than a drizzle but not quite a heavy rain. It was walkable. And that was the word we got from our guide. The upper lakes were closed because of the flooding (Did I mention that Plitvice Lakes is technically a rain forest?) but the lower lakes were open.
After checking out of our rooms, we congregated in the lobby, watched the rain through the viewing room window which normally looks out over Kozjak Lake (which we could not see through the rain), and contemplated whether to attempt the lake walk.
Veliki-Slap Waterfall. I carefully walked down the wooden steps, the wind and rain swirling around me. I rounded a rock wall on my left straight into the full force of the wind and rain. There was Veliki-Slap Waterfall roaring at me. In an instant I took a picture and ducked back into the bit of shelter provided by the wall. That was enough. I started back up the steps. The insert is a picture of Veliki-Slap from the Plitvice Lakes website without torrential rains.
It was Sarah who started the momentum. She had come on the trip with her parents and after traveling half way around the world was not going to pass up this opportunity.
About half of us decided it was worth the effort. About a dozen of us marched out the door to the bus. My wife set up her computer and the other half followed virtual views of the lakes and waterfalls.
The bus dropped us off at the trail leading down to the lower lakes and the descent to the water began.
Some of the trails along the lake edges were already flooded. We crossed over to the ferry landing to see it was under about three feet of water. There was also a concession stand and a small gift shop, all were closed.
As the day progressed the rain became harder and the wind stronger. The boardwalks, normally about three feet above the lake had water lapping against them. Crossing between Lake Gavanovac and Lake Kaluderovac to the eastern shore on our way to waterfall Veliki Slap, the water was touching the boardwalk. On the way back, water was flowing over the boardwalk.
Additional buses continued to stop and the walkways began to fill with tourists. Not all of them were very courteous. I remember one specifically who ran everywhere he went waving a huge umbrella and weaving amongst us as we tried to stay balanced on the slick boardwalks.
By the time we started our adventure on the lakes many trail sections had already begun to flood. In several instances we balanced our way along the elevated edge the flooded trail on one side, the lake on the other. In some instances we turned around and went back.
We spent about three hours traversing the boardwalks and paths. We went back on the bus and the drowned rats returned to the hotel. We gathered dry clothing from our suitcases and headed for the lobby bathrooms to change.
In the hotel lobby bathroom, changing from our soaked clothing, my friend Dave and I agreed, if we had had employees out performing maintenance on those walkways in this storm, we would have called them back. That said, there is no way we would not have walked those rain swept boardwalks across the Lower Plitvice Lakes.
Thanks for reading the about our adventure to Plitvice’s Lakes.