PAKLENICA NATIONAL PARK
INTRO
Across all of our travels, Paklenica National Park remains one of the nearest and dearest places to our hearts. The park's impressive canyons are widely known for world-class rock climbing; nowhere else can you find such an abundance of bolted multi-pitch routes on breathtaking limestone with enough bouldering and single-pitch sprinkled in to entertain any climber. Paklenica is also home to the largest forested area in Dalmatia — and just as interesting as the park's surface is what lies underground. The park has over 115 speleological objects (a.k.a., caves), the longest of which is a 43 km long cavern winding beneath the ivory mountains and canyons.
Beyond all the park has to offer within its borders, it sits next to Starigrad, a cool, understated beach town with a rocky shoreline, great Croatian food, and a laidback climbing culture. What more could you need?
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Duration: 2-7 days. If you're mainly interested in seeing the canyon or doing a bit of climbing, you could get a feel for the park in a couple days. Many people come down from Zadar just for a weekend trip. However, if you want to explore a variety of the climbing zones, plus the caves and trails, give yourself a few more days. Also, we'd recommend the extra time to enjoy what the town of Starigrad has to offer!
When To Go: April through October (Croatian spring, summer, and fall), though June-August can be quite hot. We went in July, which was pretty hot, so hiking in the mornings and evenings is your best move. If you’re climbing, you can chase the shade throughout the day, or do your climbing in the morning and evening with an afternoon trip to the beach in between. Paklenica is known for its bura, a cold, extremely strong wind that frequents the Adriatic coast, so few visitors make the trip here during the winter months!
Accommodations + facilities: There are lots of accommodation options throughout Starigrad, the town adjacent to Paklenica. If you're looking to camp, we'd highly recommend Marko's Campground. It's affordable, within walking distance of the park, and has everything you could need to be a proper climbing bum — a copy of the Paklenica climbing guidebook, a community kitchen, and showers. The owner will always try to make room for you, but it gets pretty full during the summer, so do your best to reserve a spot in advance. The official national park campground is along the ocean which is nice, but not in the park and actually quite a bit further from the park than Marko’s. Within the park, there is a mountain hut where you can stay. It’s about a 6 km hike from the main parking lot — we didn’t stay here, but you can find more info here if you’re interested.
Food + water: In the park, there are a couple small coffee shops and stores where you can buy drinks, ice cream, and snacks (whatever you do, please buy a King ice cream bar — life-changing). Otherwise, outside the park, there are a number of well-stocked grocery stores in town and great local restaurants. For water, there aren’t great places to refill water within the park, so just come prepared with your water supply for the day.
Guide or no guide: This depends on what activity you’d like to do and your experience level. We’d advise as follows:
Climbing: If you’re new to rock climbing, we’d recommend getting a guide — there are guided climbing tours in the park, such as through Paklenica Avanturist. If you’re comfortable climbing outdoors on your own, no guide is needed — there’s a lot of great information about the routes in the Paklenica Rock Climbing Guidebook, Mountain Project, and The Crag. If you didn’t bring your own gear, you can easily rent it at Paklenica Avanturist or buy it at Iglu Šport (also the best place to buy the Paklenica Rock Climbing Guidebook).
Hiking: For hiking, the trails are quite well-marked, so we’d also say no guide is needed for exploring the park that way.
Cave exploring: The only place in the park where you definitively need a guide is to see the Manita Peć cave. See below under “Things to Do” for info on this.
Difficulty: Paklenica is a big time choose-your-own-adventure type of place. If you're looking to rock climb, there are a huge variety of routes — everything from first-timer easy to Adam Ondra-opened-it (literally). Hiking-wise, there is 150-200 km worth of trails in the park, so likewise lots of options depending on what you’re feeling.
Make Sure You Have: Your climbing gear + the Paklenica climbing guidebook — rent from Paklenica Avanturist or buy from Iglu Šport. Also, weather changes quite quickly in the Velebit mountains, so make sure you have a rain jacket with you at all times.
Primary costs: Our major costs are broken down below:
THINGS TO DO
Climb, climb, climb: Did we mention the world-class climbing? There are over 500 routes set throughout the park, ranging from beginner to expert multi-pitch. You can pick up the Paklenica Rock Climbing Guidebook from Iglu Šport, or borrow it from one of the many climbers you’ll come across. Mountain Project and The Crag have enough information to get you started, but it’s far from complete. Note that some of the zones are a little hard to find, so you’ll be better off supporting the locals and picking up a guidebook. Our personal favorite zone for single-pitch was Baltazar, since it was never crowded and had a nice variety of routes on unpolished rock!
Explore Manita Peć: Manita Peć is the most famous cave in Paklenica — and the only one accessible to the public through 30 minute guided tours. Tours run at various times and on certain days, so see the most up-to-date schedule here and plan ahead for the steep hike up to the cave entrance. You do have to pay for the tour, though it’s not too pricey (see above under “Cost”).
Check out the visitor center: The park’s visitor center is super informative, as well as very uniquely designed — it’s within underground tunnels that were built as bunkers during World War II. If you’re a climber, the exhibit on the region’s climbing history and global importance is extra fascinating. You also have to pay an entry fee for the visitor center, though it’s not too pricey (see above under “Cost”).
Hit the trails: There is plenty of hiking in Paklenica, with everything from education trails to climbs up to the highest mountains in the Velebit. We didn’t do much “official” hiking given we focused on climbing and walked all over the park to the different climbing zones, but the park’s website has great information and a downloadable hiking map here.
GETTING THERE
Traveling to Paklenica by bus is very easy and affordable. Buses run from across the country and from across Europe to Zadar, the nearest big city to Paklenica. From Zadar, it's an easy 45 minutes bus to get to Starigrad, the town that serves as the jumping off point for the park. You can book tickets online through FlixBus or Arriva. Once you're in Starigrad, depending on where you are staying, you can take a taxi, rent a car, rent a bike, or walk to the park. Another option is renting a car from Zadar or another major city and driving to the park.
Last Updated: 30 August 2022
EXPLORE MORE IN CROATIA
