Our second national park adventure starts in the picturesque little habour town of Skradin – the beginning of our journey to Krka National Park.
There are several ways to get to the park, but one of the nicest is to buy your park ticket at this little town and take a boat trip up the river and into the park itself.
The main attraction of Krka National Park lies in its seven waterfalls. The widest of these is Roški slap although Skradinski Buk is the biggest and most well known.
Usually you’re able to swim in the lake near to Skradinski Buk, but due to high water levels (thanks to all the recent rain fall) health and safety squashed that idea!
However, the upside of all the rain meant that the waterfalls were in full spate with the maximum volume of water powering through them.
This created a breath taking spectacle of foaming white water crashing into the placid lake below.
Here’s Neil feeling the spray on his face after scrambling up the side of the mighty waterfall.
Skradinski buk is one of the most attractive parts of the park. It is a massive, clear, natural pool with high waterfalls at one end and cascades at the other. It is the lowest of the three sets of waterfalls formed along the Krka river.
In an area 400m in length and 100m in width there are 17 waterfalls and the total difference in height between the first and the last falls is 47.7 m.
Skradinski Buk is, understandably, considered to be one of the most beautiful calcium carbonate waterfalls in Europe and it is magical.
Similar to Plitvice, visitors get to explore the park via wooden walkways that criss cross over bubbling brooks and thundering waterfalls.
The sunlight filters through the trees and sparkles off every little stream. It is so fantastical that you half expect Gandalf or Bilbo Baggins to pop out from behind a tree.
Eight hundred and sixty species and subspecies of plants have been identified within the territory of the national Park.
The park is a wildlife haven with 18 species of fish, 18 species of bat and over 200 species of birds as well.
Here we paused to take a look back down at Skradinski Buk and the wooden walkway we’d crossed earlier.
The tourists look pretty darn small from all the way up here!!
Travertine steps create differing levels for the water to play and roll over. Each section of the river takes on another colour and hue. From muddy browns to deep aqua, turquoise through to opaque blues.
The endlessly tumbling water creates a delightful spectacle of foaming, frothing loveliness.
Next up we visit the old mills by the Krka River and then head up to Roski Slap for some vertigo inducing views.