image: awl images
sight to see
PLITVICE LAKES, CROATIA
With gemstone lakes and tumbling waterfalls, Croatia’s oldest national park is a joy to explore, says Emily Lush
most underrated natural wonders. The mosaic of lagoons, caverns and cascades in central Croatia — nestled in a depression beneath the Dinaric Alps — took millennia to form. The chain of lakes that gives the park its
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name (the Croatian word plicina means ‘shallow’) have been shaped by the gradual build-up of calcium carbonate washed down from the limestone and chalk-rich surrounds. Aided by moss, algae and cyanobacteria that binds to the calcite crystals, these deposits accumulate layer by layer to form tufa dams. The relentless flow of above ground and
subterranean rivers has etched deep cataracts in the rock, channeling the movement of water across the tiered pools. At 256ft, Veliki Slap is Croatia’s highest waterfall and the park’s crowning jewel. The appearance of the lakes transforms from season to season and, remarkably, hour by hour, as the waters cycle through hues of mint green, sapphire blue and dove gray. Blooming algae, shifting mineral compositions and the movement of the sun all contribute to the oscillating colors. Plitvice can be explored via boardwalks that
skim the lakes’ surface and walking paths that wind up and down the nearby bluffs. Don’t miss a boat trip on the biggest lake, Kozjak. The lakes might steal the show, but water
covers less than one percent of the national park’s territory: Plitvice’s 73,000 acres also include pockets of expansive meadows and old-growth fir and beech forest. Rare carnivorous plants, 120 different species of birds and lynxes are also among its treasures.
Did you know? With 1,400 different species and subspecies of plants, Plitvice accounts for 30 percent of Croatia’s flora.
------------ Plitvice is off the D429 highway and takes
ESSENTIALS -
around two hours from either Zagreb or Zadar. There are two entrances, both of which are a starting point for eight marked walking routes, from two to 11 miles. Purchase tickets online in advance if visiting from June to September.
82 • postcards
ome to 90 waterfalls, an estimated 114 caves and 16 dazzling pools, Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of Europe’s
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