national park plitvice lakes
The lakes are situated on the Plitvice plateau, between the mountains of Licka Pljesevica (1,640 m), Mala Kapela (1,280 m) and Medvedjak (884 m). Administratively, a minor part of the Park falls within the areas of Slunj, Otocac and Ogulin, but Korenica administers most of it.
The Park's greatest value and beauty comprises the sixteen beautiful lakes, which flow into each other through a series of waterfalls, and the exceptional richness of the flora and fauna.
The lake system is divided into the upper lakes: Proscansko Lake, Ciginovac, Okrugljak, Batinovac, Veliko Jezero (Big Lake), Malo Jezero (Small Lake), Vir, Galovac, Milino Lake, Jezerce, Burgetiand Kozjak and the lower lakes: Milinovac, Gavanovac, Kaluderovac and Novakovica Brod. The highest of them is Proscansko Lake (639 m) and the lowest Novakovica Brod (503 m). The water largely comes in Proscansko Lake from the Crna rijeka, Bijela rijeka and potok Ljeskovac (Black and White Rivers, Ljeskovac brook) and runs from it through the lower lakes down to the River Korana.
Climatic Characteristics
The weather and the climatic characteristics of the Plitvice Lakes are conditioned by the location of the Lakes at the mountain pass at 700 to 800m above the sea level, and by about 50 km of air distance from the sea. Climate is continental with influence of mild Mediterranean climate.
During summer the average midday temperature is 24 Celsius. Days with temperature over 30 Celsius are only one or two a month.
January is usually the coldest month with 3 Celsius on the average.
Flora
Geographical location ( 50 km air distance from the sea, difference in altitude above the sea level from 417m to 863m, the highest Croatian mountain Velebit at the separation line between coastal and continental rainfall regime ), geological base, exposure of terrain, circulation of air masses has made it possible for rich and diverse plant world to develop. In a relatively small Park area species of different kinds, or rather species of different flora elements are seen. The park area is abundant with endemic species of both local and wide spread, species protected by the Law and rare and interesting species of our flora.
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is heavily forested, mainly with beech, spruce and fir trees.
Fauna
The area is home to an extremely wide variety of animal and bird species.
There are about 140 bird species found in the Plitvice Lakes area, and more than seventy of them are building their nests there. You can notice a blackbird (Cinclus cinclus) just next to the water. Due to disappearance of clean mountain water streams, this bird species has become exceptionally rare. The Plitvice Lakes area is probably the only place in Croatia that contains 50 to 60 pairs of these birds.
At first light or in twilight, there is a big possibility to see some of the big mammals ( bear, wolf, fox, lynx, badger and pine marten ). There are over 50 mammal species registered in this Park, some of which are only about ten centimetres long, while some of them are considered to be among the biggest mammals in Europe.
Attractions
Except the usual morphological phenomena specific for karst area, in Plitvice Lakes National Park you can find numerous caves, cavities, abysses and ice pits within the Plitvice Lakes National Park. So far, we are familiar with more than fifty such phenomena, but only a small number of them is accessible and interesting as a tourist attraction.
The natural attributes of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, uniqueness and sensibiliry of that phenomenon, deserve a full attention of visitors.
In 1979 the Plitvice Lakes National Park has been entered in the UNESCO List of World Heritage as being a natural asset of universal and exceptional value and importance.
Source:Plitvice Lakes National Park
