A circular walk along the borders of the National Park Risjnak, Croatia.
Getting there: new highways in Slovenia offer you quick and easy access by car to Croatia and the NP.
Or: a flight to Rijeka and by public transport to Lokve, our start of the hike (43 km).
Maps: it’s no problem to buy good and useful walking maps in the region we walked in. For instance at the entrance of the Park.Or, to buy at home: Walking Guide Walking in Croatia - Croatia | Cicerone (9781852846145)
On the route the marks have sometimes disappeared. You have to make your own choice with the risk of getting lost. Nevertheless, this route leads you through splendid landscapes. At Easter no tourist to see! Perhaps all going to the coast, to the Mediterranean? But see this part of the country!
Accommodation: on trail you can sleep and eat in the villages and cities.
Hotel, private pensions, “Zimmer frei” or noćenje s doručkom (B&B).
Easter 2002: a circular walk along the borders of the National Park Risjnak. The NP is a part of the Gorski Gotar (mountain district). People say that brown bear and lynx still live here, but we didn't see them. What we saw was: luxurious silence, slanting hills, great views along the Kupa-river. And horizon with the Risjnak-mountain (1528 m).On the other riverside Slovenia, the Doljenska region where you can make beatiful more day walks.
Height on trail: 600-1100m.
Distance between the stage cities: 15 - 23 km
Day 1: Lokve - Risnjak (visitors center NP, Crni Lug)..16 km
Day 2: Risjnak NP - Osilnica (S).....................................21 km
Day 3: Osilnica - Brod na Kupi......................................22 km
Day 4: Brod na Kupi - Skrad (51311)............................21 km (northern detour)
Day 5: Skrad - Delnice....................................................18 km
and in Delnice the train to Lokve.
On trail: once arrived in Lokve the local pub owner contacted us with the Crnkovic family, Homer 10, Lokve (51316). Here we had a great time at the start and finish of our round-walk. Wild boar and home made wine (and stronger). What do you want more? ( perhaps frog’s legs, people breed them here….)
The visitor centre of the Risnjak National Park is located in Crni Lug, southeast of the nature reserve.
People tell: "the Romans called it hortus diabolicus or the Devil’s garden, probably out of spite. They knew it was a land of amazing medicinal herbs, but a land so inaccessible they simply couldn’t conquer it".And that wsa it. (Nowadays people get a lot of herbs from the woods to make the rakija at home, a supposedly delicious drink. Will it still be a Hortus Diabolicus again).
The Kupa river rises in the Park.
Wild in abundance. "Ris" is Croatian for lynx. Pigs, deer, foxes, pheasants, badgers, lynxes, wolves.
There are also brown bears.
Due to its position - between the Alps, the Dinarics and the Mediterranean - almost all types of forests as well as many plants are gathered in the NP in a relatively small area (65 km²). Alpine rose, orchis, edelweiss, aster alpinus, gentians.
Waterfalls near the railway station of Skrad. Day 4.
An attractive karst landscape.
