Dr.Chala (also member here) and I decided to explore some gravel roads on Southern Velebit on Sunday (10.08.2008). There was about 200 km of “normal” road till we reached interesting stuff. You can see radar site on Gola Pljesivica Mountain, it was made “famous” by this report: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240446 Picture was taken from gas station in small city named Korenica. We softened up our suspension and reduced tire pressure on last petrol station before turning to gravel road. Finally, we turned towards Velebit. Our plan was to reach Mali Alan Pass(or Halan, spelling differs from map to map). Road starts as narrow paved road, and after crossing Sv. Rok tunnel, it turns into gravel. Sv. Rok tunnel is one of the major choke points on new highway from inland towards coast. It is Sunday in height of tourist season, so big queues are “normal”. Text on the sign says “End of asphalt”, really useful as you can see. We started to climb, but had to stop very often as we can’t resist taking pictures, it was quite windy, air was clear and views are spectacular. First stop was at the small church which was built during the road construction. Road was opened on 4. X. 1832. Next location is Tulove grede, old legend says that dragons live there. Chapel is dedicated to Colonel Damir Tomljanovic Gavran who fell there in 1994 during Croatian war for independence. Whole area was frontline during the war. We finally reached Mali Alan, height is 1045 m. I had few other tracks on my GPS, and I tough that it is possible to turn from “main” road and reach another track. As you will see I was very wrong. It was not looking bad at the beginning, but soon it started to look “interesting”. I was able to see other track on my GPS, but it was dead end, so we had to turn back. We lost about an hour, but we managed to come back. It was late, we were tired, and quite far from home so we decided to leave other roads for another day and come down from mountain. This picture was taken after we come back, don’t take left turn here. We reached Gospic and there we decided to take little detour on our way home and hit another gravel section. Road was interesting, but it lead trough forests, so no nice pictures from this section. It was around 100 km back to home on paved roads. We made more than 500 km, and had really good time.
Fantastic. Thank you, would love to hear more about travelling there. The people, the government and prep for travelling there. I know I'm an ignoramus...but I'm trying to change that.
Nice one ! We are so used to see Croatia coastline that I even forgot there are mountains too... and quite a lot ! Thanks for those great pictures ! /thierry
You just have to come here. Traveling in Croatia is completely straightforward for US citizen. You dont need visa or any other extra papers, just bring your passport. Croatia is very touristy country, especially Adriatic coast during summer, sometimes I got feeling that half of Europe is vacating here. For some general facts about Croatia look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia
Thanks for thr great report Damir. I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks riding around your wonderful country in 2005. I was on a road bike but I took a few wrong turns and ended up on some spectacular gravel roads. I especially liked the area around Plitvice and towards the coast from there. Obviously the coast road was awsome, but very crowded as I went in August when as you say, it seems like half of Europe is in Croatia. I hope to get back one day, friends of mine have a house on Pag and I would like to spend a couple of weeks there just relaxing. Keep up the good work! Matt
Pag-beach Zrce-Club Papaya-this days... http://www.index.hr/xmag/nightlife/galerija/1370/show.aspx http://www.index.hr/xmag/nightlife/klub/0/show.aspx http://www.index.hr/xmag/nightlife/galerija/1363/show.aspx The best of... http://www.index.hr/xmag/nightlife/galerija/1363/23397/show.aspx
And you forgot to mention that the region is the homeland of WINNETOU! There is still a postbox there!
One of the best things about ADVrider is getting to see places through a motorcyclists view that I will probably never see with my own eyes. Thanks for posting.
Very nice! A buddy of mine is from Croatia, and having seen his pictures I need to go there one day. Yours only reinforce that need! Thanks.
Hi Damir, another very nice report from you. We did the same road last year by car, while our KTM was sleeping in Sibenik - waiting for a new clutch. Very nice area - have to come back next time. (Saturday we start our trip to North-East Europe). have fun Andreas
There seems to be a lot of unspoiled lands and mountains. Hard to believe in densely populated Europe. Having read a couple of other reports from ADVRiders who have crossed Croatia or live there, I have gotten a very nice impression of the country. Thanks for writing and photographing your trip.
I remember my bike taking a nap in those serpentines... Nice pictures! I cant wait to come back to Hrvatska!