We spent a full day exploring Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia’s largest and oldest national park. We saw a series of waterfalls and turquoise lakes as the Korana River flows through the large canyon. The water covers just  217 out of 30,000 hectares in the park and we viewed quite a few of the 16 lakes during our 10 miles of walking and 2 short boat rides. Yes, the water is really the color shown in our photos! 

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The “trails” are mostly elevated wooden walking platforms, which means we walked across small lakes or over small waterfalls without getting wet or damaging the area.  

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The day before our Plitvice Lakes National Park adventure, we walked to the gently flowing Niksic Cascades, a short stretch of the Karona River just outside of Slunj. The central Croatia town is home to about 4,000 residents.

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Since we were in the scenic Slunj area a couple of days we had time to take our first e-bike ride. We went on an 8 hour adventure from the outskirts of Slunj to the historical center and back again. After the first few minutes of riding we were thoroughly sold on the benefits of pedaling with the assistance of electric power. We used a middle power setting, so we didn’t completely wimp out. 

The historical area of Slunj along the Slunjcica River is where the water branches out over many waterfalls, usually about 3 to 5 meters tall. During the 18th century over 20 mechanical water mills were built in the small town to grind corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, and millet. Spoon mills were the most common design because of the adequate volume, angle, and force of the water flow. 

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