Plitvice Lakes

  • 5 minutes by car

Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatian: Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera) is one of the oldest national parks in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. 

In 1979, Plitvice Lakes National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage register.  

The national park was founded in 1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The important north-south road connection, which passes through the national park area, connects the Croatian inland with the Adriatic coastal region.

The protected area extends over 296.85 square kilometers (73,350 acres). About 90% of this area is part of Lika-Senj County, while the remaining 10% is part of Karlovac County.

 

Caves of Barać

  • 7 minutes by car

Barać caves are located  six kilometres to the east of BeaR’s LOG (just over half a kilometre to the west from the centre of the village of Nova Kršlja). Entrances to all three caves from the north are called Baraćeve Brine. At the bottom of Brine, between the entrances to the caves, is Baraćevac spring, which, together with two smaller springs (without name) form Kršlja stream that merges with the Suvaja stream some twenty meters downstream.

 

Kršlja flows several kilometres through the field, and at its eastern part, through a series of pits, enters the Varićak Cave, where it accounts for the greatest amount of water mass in its channels.

Korana river

  • 5 minute walk

Located just a 5 minute walk from BeaR’s LOG You will find Korana river at it’s best. Just outside the Plitvice national park border it carries all the elements that created Plitvice, untampered with human interference. Beautifuly colored from azure to green, crystal clear and clean, it makes you want to jump right in.

Outside the borders of the Plitvice National park swimming in Korana river is allowed and there is no better way to cool down in a hot summer day than to take a swim in this  beautiful water. It is actually so clean and soft that all surrounding villages use Korana water for their waterworks directly from the river, without any need for puryfing it, you can actually drink it while you swim  🙂

Old town Drežnik

  • 11 minutes by car

Historical happenings in this area are mostly connected with constant warfare concerning borders and defense from conquerors’ incursions, which is why the area hadn’t developed as a market town or a settlement, but rather as a defensive fort, especially Drežnik Grad (Drežnik Castle).

This area used to be the seat of the one-time County of Drežnik which was first mentioned in the 11th century. The masters of Drežnik Castle were princes the Nelipić’s, princes the Gisingov’s, princes the Babonić’s, the Subić’s. and from the year 1323, the place was ruled by the Frankopan’s. It remained to be their property until the mid-16th century. At the time of Turkish conquerings and invasions Drežnik Castle was a very important defensive foothold that was repeatedly conquered, ruined and rebuilt. 

Rastoke – City of Slunj

  • 25 minutes by car

Rastoke was made by the game of nature at the place where the Slunjčica River flows into the river of Korana. The nature had played with turquoise waters of the river Slunjčica and divided them into a myriad of sputtering waterfalls of which the most beautiful ones are Buk, Hrvoje and Vilina kosa. By its founding Rastoke is actually the first introduction to the Plitvice lakes. Unlike these lakes Rastoke is special by intertwined human settlement with spoon-like water- mills (mlinica žličara) in this exuberance of green vegetation on inlets and cliffs made three hundred years ago. What the nature has made in thousands of years and a man built later on, while adjusting himself to the conditions of nature, with the surrounding limestone rocks, remnants of old settlements and the little town of Slunj fits harmoniously into a unique whole.