Get to know North Velebit

North Velebit National Park was declared on 09th of June 1999 and the public institutions began to work according to Parliament decision of 16th of September of the same year.

The area was declared a national park because of the pronounced diversity of karst phenomena, the wealth of wildlife and extraordinary natural beauty on a relatively small area. Area of the park has 109 km2 and is located within the same strict reserve Hajdučki and Rozanski kukovi, which is the specific geomorphologic phenomenon where was so far discovered more than 150 caves, of which most popular is Luke’s cave, one of the deepest in the world in general, discovered in 1999.

It is forbidden for visitors (except passing Premužič trail) and it can only conduct scientific research and management for educational purposes, with the permission of the competent Authority for the Protection of Nature. Within the park there are a botanical reserve “Visibaba”, where is the biggest site of endemic Croatian sibireja (Sibiraea altaiensis ssp. Croatica), and botanical reserve Zavižan-Balinovac-Velika kosa, which emphasizes the richness of flora in higher mountains. Within the reserve there is the famous Velebit Botanical Garden, which was founded by prof. Fran Kušan that dates from the year 1967.

The park is rugged by numerous hiking trails, of which the most popular is Premužić trail, named after the builder Ante Premužić, an engineer who had designed it in 1930, while the building itself was finished in 1933. The route passes through beautiful and interesting parts of the northern Velebit. Mountain peaks provide a breathtaking view of the Adriatic sea and islands Pag, Rab, Goli, Prvic and Krk such as Lika background of the continental side.

Cultural heritage of the park is evident in the numerous ruins of the old livestock apartments, houses and stone walls, which bear witness to past times when this area was settled with much larger number of people, which later spread throughout the world, leaving only traces of their presence in this very beautiful and unique space.

Useful numbers:

• Management NP North Velebit: 053/665-380, 098/92-94-029 (chief inspector),
• Mountain Lodge Zavižan: 053/614-209, 614-203,
• Croatian Mountain Rescue Service: 112,
• Center for the notification: 985,
• Police: 92,
• Ambulance: 94

For more information:

http://www.np-sjeverni-
velebit.hr/