Croatia has announced the designation of a new nature park around an hour from Zagreb, complete with picturesque hiking trails.
In a meeting earlier this month, Croatia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition said that it would create its 13th protected landscape, called the Zagorje Mountains Nature Park.
It will cover more than 115 square miles across the Krapina-Zagorje and Varaždin counties and include numerous mountains and hills.
Ivanščica, the largest mountain in the region, attracts visitors to its winding trails and expansive flower meadows.
Hikers can climb to an altitude of 1,060 metres on this mountain and on clear days can see the Slovenian Alps and as far as Hungary.
Mountaineering is also popular on Strahinjščica and Maceljske, both of which are forested mountains with trails through densely-packed trees.
Ravna mountain, standing at 686m tall, is located in the upper basin of the river Bednja and is considered the last branch of the Alps.
Visitors often visit Ravna for the weekend to stay in mountain lodges, while others will enjoy its hiking trails or visit its two paraglider take off points.
Ravna’s lookout point has an exceptional view of Trakošćan Castle, a 13th-century castle that is considered to be one of the best preserved and most beautiful in the country. Hiking trails from the mountain lead directly to the castle.
The park spans much of the historic Zagorje region, which lies just an hour outside of the capital Zagreb.
Tucked within its rolling green mountains and hills, visitors to Zagorje will find more fairytale-like castles, rural villages and thermal spa resorts.
While visitors have long come to the region before it became a nature park, the label helps ensure the preservation of the country’s geodiversity.
The new designation means that over 38 per cent of Croatia is now protected.
The ministry says that around one-fifth of the total Croatian flora has been recorded in the park, with 1,200 species and subspecies, of which 12 are native. More than 30 native animal species have also been identified within the park.
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