Paklenica National Park Croatia - Mala Paklenica Canyon

Описание: Nacionalni park Paklenica - jednodnevni hiking kanjonom Mala Paklenica

Paklenica National Park is located slightly inland from the coast of North Dalmatia, situated about 47km north (northeast) from Zadar. The nearest coastal town to the park is Starigrad Paklenica.

The Park is south of the Velebit range of mountains (the largest in Croatia) and covers an area of just under 100 square km. It had a mixture of high peaks with stunning views, deep gorges and beech and pine forests.

The Park is an ideal place to visit for the adventurous – there are several challenging hiking trails, and climbing is also popular here. For those who like things a little more laid-back, there’s more gentle walks available too, with just as much to explore.

Paklenica is well known for its two canyons, Velika Paklenica and Mala Paklenica. (Big and small Paklenica!) Velika Paklenica is 14km long and between 500 to 800m wide. Mala Paklenica is, unsurprisingly, smaller but is still 12km long and between 400 to 500m wide. The Park’s highest peak is Vaganski vrh, which is 1,757 metres high.

A number of caves also exist in the National Park of various sizes.

The Park is well known for its numerous geological highlights, and contains a wide range of plant and animal species. Amongst the wildlife in the park are various types of bird (including falcons, eagles and owls). There are also deer, wolves, bears, foxes, wild cats, and lynx.

The Park is very suitable for hiking, and a number of trails of different difficulty and length exist. Hiking is probably the best way to explore and really get a feel for the Park. If you’d prefer not to go off on your own, organised excursions are available. For those who are keen to go a little faster, cycling trails are also available.

For the more adventurous, climbing is a very popular activity in the Park, which draws climbers from all over Croatia and further away. Again, there are a number of climbing areas for varying levels of difficulty. Climbing in the Park is really only recommended if you’re an experienced climber, however.

Mala Paklenica canyon is known for its wilderness and preserved nature. It is smaller than Velika Paklenica. The torrent that runs here is much smaller too. The springs of Mala Paklenica and Velika Paklenica are the only permanent streams on southern, karstic slopes of Velebit. Mala Paklenica is 12,5 km long.

The Mala Paklenica usually has water in its bed upstream from the branch trail to Njive Lekine. It rises from Vlaški Grad, also from several springs. A left tributary of the Mala Paklenica, called the Orljača, is also a torrent-flow that dries out in summer. In the damp part of the year the path is impassable when water runs down the gorge.
Eight kilometres downstream from its spring, Mala Paklenica has shaped a two kilometre long canyon with cliffs that reach up to 300 metres in height and are in some places just 10 metres apart or even less.

In ancient times a lot of water fowed from the mountain tops into the gorge digging out, with the help of the material it brought with it, several large half-caves and caves. Some contain dripwater.

In order to preserve the authenticity of petrophilous ornithofauna in Mala Paklenica climbing is strictly prohibited.

This was a one-day hiking (March 23, 2019) through the canyon of Mala Paklenica in Paklenica National Park, Croatia.