National park Paklenica

Paklenica is one of the 8 national parks in Croatia. The park which covers an area of 95 km2 is located on the southern slopes of the Velebit Mountain. This is the second oldest national park in Croatia (1949), just after the more famous National park Plitvice.

Although it’s most popular with hikers and climbers, this area is also a time travel machine. The Paklenica mills, mirila and abandoned villages of local shepherds will show you what life was like in the old days. The beauty of the park is also proven by its inclusion on the top Instagram places list.

The only entrance to the national park is located near the city Starigrad-Paklenica which is a relatively small but very nice coastal town.

Continue reading and find all the necessary information for planning your trip to Paklenica.

How to get to National park Paklenica?

By car

This is for sure the best way of getting to Paklenica, especially if you’re situated in Rijeka, Zadar or Šibenik. The park entrance is located about 1 km from the main coastal road where there are signs clearly marking where you have to turn (see photo).

From where you pay the entrance fee you have about 1.7 km which you can still go by car; along this part cars are parked at the right side of the road and how far you can get depends on when you arrive.

By bus

You can also reach Starigrad Paklenica by bus. The buses will stop at the coastal road (see stop locations here) from where you have about 1.3 km to where you pay the entrance fee (3.0 km to trails).

Buses come from either Zadar or Rijeka. When picking the bus, you should go for those operated by Slavonija bus since they start in Zadar and end in Starigrad-Paklenica or vice versa.

All other buses come from destinations further away which means that they are often delayed, especially in busy summer months.

Entrance and prices

Every visitor to Paklenica should have a valid ticket for each day of their stay in the park.

As in other parks, a one-day ticket for adults is the most expensive in summer months (June – Sept) – 60 kn. However, unlike e.g. Plitvice, Paklenica is actually cheap! You can also choose between a three-day pass, a five-day pass and an annual pass.

Check out the full price list on the national park’s official website.

Things to do at NP Paklenica

The two main activities at Paklenica are hiking and climbing but there is also an option to ride a bike on specific trails in the park.

Climbing

More than 30% of visitors at the national park are climbers. The park has around 400 marked climbing trails of different difficulty grade.

The majority of the short sport climbing routes are situated in Klanci, the narrowest part of the Velika Paklenica canyon.

If you are a newbie to climbing, on some days you can even rent equipment on site or arrange a climbing lesson with the local tourist board. Or you can contact these guys and arrange everything prior to your arrival.

Each year around the 1st of May the national park hosts an International climbers meeting.

Hiking

National park Paklenica has around 175 km of hiking trails, so you will need more than an afternoon to hike them all.

The hiking trails are well marked so you won’t have any problem finding your way around.

If you plan to spend more days in the park you can buy a trail map but for a one day visit that is not necessary – but, it’s your decision!

The hiking trails are available in all difficulty grades but as you will be walking up and downhill you will need to be in minimal shape. From the entrance in Velika Paklenica canyon the two most popular hikes are

1. to Paklenica Mountain hut, which takes about 2 hours, the total ascend of this trip is 400 metres.
2. to the cave Manita Peć, which is a walk of about 2 hours and 30 minutes, the total ascend is 450 metres. The entrance fee to Manita Peć is 30 KN from April to October.
   
   Note: if you want to visit the cave, contact the park administration and ask about the opening hours before you go there. Also, make sure you dress appropriately, the temperatures are pretty low there – even in the summer.

For those of you who think that is too much you can just enjoy some of these hiking trails for beginners:

TRAIL	LENGTH	EST.TIME
Velika Paklenica-Paklaric Fort	550 m	15 min
Skiljici-Jurasova Glavica	1.4 km	28 min
Vlaski Grad – Grebensko selo	1.8 km	55 min
Ivine Vodice-Cicina dolina	2.4 km	1h 15 min

Regardless of which trail you pick, you will be stunned by the beauty of the park; parts of the trails follow the Paklenica creek which is full of small and photo-worthy waterfalls.

If all this sounds like too much walking, you can also have a look at the hiking trails on Google, which had a guy walking the trails with a camera!

Check the park’s website for more info about Hiking in Paklenica here.

What to bring and consider when visiting Paklenica

Well if you are a climber you would know :-), for a regular tourist like me visiting the park for a bit of hiking, I would recommend the following:

1. Bring plenty of water! (you can refill your bottle at a few places but on warm summer days you need a lot of water, so bring 1 litre of water per person).
2. If you walk on the main tourist trails, normal good walking shoes / trainers are more than fine. Avoid flip flops because they are not suitable, if you plan to go on one of the more difficult trails bring hiking shoes / boots
3. You are in real nature, so you will not find a toilet around the corner; make sure to adjust to that before starting your hike.
4. If possible, start your hike early, then you avoid ascending during the warmest hours. (this also means you can park closer to the starting point of the trails)
5. If you reach the Paklenica hut, you can enjoy their grilled sausages which are quite good. Alternatively, there is a great restaurant on the way back to the main road.
6. If you are going with a group you should consider hiring a guide from the park.
7. In case of emergency, call 112!

What to eat?

Don’t be afraid of staying hungry in Paklenica. There are a few restaurants just beside or inside the park.

• Tavern Marasović
• Restaurant Dinko

Where to stay in Paklenica

The Paklenica mountain hut offers sleep for about 50 people; during the summer months you should make a reservation. There are also other smaller mountain huts in the park.

If you want to stay somewhere near the park overnight, check out our map of available accommodation.

More Travel Tips

If you have visited National park Plitvice lakes or National park Krka during summer months, you should know what crowded means.

But you will be pleasantly surprised when you visit Paklenica. Not that the park is empty, but compared to the aforementioned parks, the number of visitors is considerably lower.

There are wild animals in Paklenica, such as the brown bear, the wolf, wild boar and the elusive European lynx. You do not want to engage with these beasts, so be considerate when you move around in the park.