Page 78 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

76  CRO A TIA AREA B Y AREA

j Risnjak National Park: The Leska Trail

Nacionalni park Risnjak
The vast Gorski Kotor plateau, separating Croatia from Slovenia,
begins north of Rijeka. Part of the area has been declared a
national park in order to protect the forests and natural environ-
ment and the ecological balance of the area. The park, set up in
1953, first covered an area of 32 sq km (12 sq miles), but it is now
double that size, most of it made up of forests and grasslands
with many karst (limestone) features. The climatic conditions, Leska Crni Lug
caused by the territory’s particular exposure and altitude, are
very varied and about 30 different plant communities have been Park area
identified. The Leska trail was set up in 1993, and 23 information The Leska trail
panels inform visitors about various aspects of this area.
6 Feed Troughs
8 Silver Fir Forest 7 Chasm Feed troughs are set up
The silver fir, in great Cold air from the chasm and the damp here in winter to provide
demand for boat building, subsoil of this rocky fissure make the food for all the animals
has disappeared from many flora of great interest: plants which in the park.
woods in Croatia; here it normally only grow at the higher
mingles with beech trees. altitudes of the park can be found here.
Hranilište

Osmatračnica
Klada
Gmajna
Markov
Brlog
9 Observatory
From this viewing platform
the behaviour of animals
such as bears, foxes, lynxes,
martens and wild cats can be
observed in the woods. There
are also many birds, both non-
migratory and birds of passage.
Towards evening at certain
times of the year, eagles, hawks
and crows can also be seen.
Leska
0 Cultivating the Countryside
Only one house is inhabited in the village
of Leska. It is used from spring to autumn
by farmers, who come to grow potatoes,
peas and beans on specially built terraces.
w Tree Trunks
Fungi thrive in the
q Springs cracks of old tree
Water flows under the layers of trunks providing a
impervious rock and springs are source of food for
created where the water emerges. insects too.

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp226–8 and pp238–40

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