Zeleni vir
Location: SkradLength: 0,58 kmElevation gain: 99 mDifficulty: EasyDifficulty rating: K1, T1, VR1
Gorski kotar is full of beautiful landscapes that hide incredible natural phenomena. One of them is certainly Zeleni vir (the “Green Pool”) near the village of Skrad, an area declared a special geomorphological reserve in 1962 on account of its exceptional beauty and geological value. It covers 200 ha, and besides Zeleni vir it also contains Vražji prolaz (the “Devil’s Passage”), reputedly one of the most beautiful canyons in Croatia, which was unfortunately closed during our visit, so it is still on our wish list.
A 70-metre-high waterfall in front of the mouth of the cave that holds the spring makes for a sight that is deeply impressive and rarely seen even beyond Croatia’s borders!
Zeleni vir is a spring 50 m deep (the bottom has still not been reached) that forms an emerald-green pool, hidden inside a cave whose wide mouth and high vaults are reminiscent of a scaled-down version of the entrance to the Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam. The lake goes on to form the Curak stream, into which a waterfall 70 m high (!?!) also falls, dropping from the cliff immediately in front of the cave entrance. The waterfall, with the mouth of the cave behind it, makes an impressive and rarely seen sight, and not only here in Croatia!
I do not think the waterfall has any official name, nor had I heard of it before I discovered Zeleni vir, which is certainly nothing for our tourist boards to be proud of, given that this is, if not the tallest, then one of the tallest waterfalls in Croatia. For comparison, Veliki slap at Plitvice is 62 m high down to the first pool at its foot.
The entrance fee for the park is nominal, and you can drive right up to the start of the footpath. I should mention that the road descending to the entrance was in very poor condition, but anyone who wishes can hire an electric bike in the village, and if a height difference of 600 m is no problem for you, you can also walk down.
The scenery in the park is beautiful and exploring the canyon with the sound of water on all sides is a real pleasure.
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.
