Vojak, the summit of Učka
Location: UčkaDifficulty: Very EasyDifficulty rating: K1, T1, VR1
Travelling around Istria you will come across many wonderful viewpoints, but only one of them is the highest and the most spectacular — the summit of Učka, Vojak (1,396 m).
Učka is the mountain that forms the natural border between Istria and Kvarner, and one of the key shapers of the climate in this area. Most of Učka has been declared a nature park, and its beautiful dense forests are its main feature. The faster route into Istria runs through the tunnel under Učka, the more beautiful one over the mountain itself, so whenever we have enough time we choose the latter.
This time our goal was that very summit, Vojak. We have stood on many peaks in Croatia, but Vojak is completely unlike any of them. It is shaped as a ridge, and the combination of stone and grass is a little reminiscent of Ireland and that kind of “northern” beauty. In 1911 a stone tower / viewpoint five metres high was built on top of it. It has a distinctive look and fits the landscape perfectly.
Vojak, the summit of Učka, is completely unlike any peak we have climbed so far!
The rim of the tower is especially interesting, because the names of and distances to many of the peaks visible from this spot are engraved into it. In clear weather the view reaches all the way to the Dolomites.
The summit of Učka can be reached by hiking trails, but also by an asphalt road. Although there is a traffic restriction sign at the start of the road, people (locals and foreigners alike) drive up to the top without the slightest pang of conscience, so we followed them. It takes about ten minutes by car to reach the car park at the top. Above the car park stands the transmitter building, and from there a mostly level path runs along the summit itself to the stone tower. The path is not even 200 m long, so if your aim was to burn off the calories from Dopolavoro, you had better choose to climb one of the hiking trails instead.
Once you have seen the tower, do carry on along the path a little further south, because that stretch is really something special and has to be experienced!
Special
Although our focus is on Croatia, due to great interest in reviewing some international locations from our travels, we decided to launch the Special section. In it, we will not cover locations in the same detailed way we do with Croatian ones, but will instead provide a brief overview of multiple locations grouped into meaningful categories. The only criterion we still strictly follow is that they must be natural attractions.
