Tulove Grede

The jagged limestone teeth of Tulove Grede rise out of the southern Velebit like a cathedral wall — a series of five vertical rock towers reaching 1,120 m that form one of the most photogenic silhouettes in the Balkans. To anyone who grew up in central Europe in the 1960s and 70s they will look uncannily familiar: this is where Karl May's Winnetou films shot most of their 'American West' scenery, and the tallest pinnacle is still nicknamed 'Winnetou Peak'. The area lies inside the strict boundary of Paklenica National Park's northern extension, and access is via the challenging Mali Alan mountain road up from the coast at Obrovac — a hair-raising drive that ends at a col from where a two-hour hike gains the ridge. The rock is world-class white limestone and multiple sport-climbing routes have been established since the 2000s; for hikers the reward is a 360-degree panorama over the Zadar coast, the island of Pag, the Dinara massif and the plains of northern Dalmatia. During WWII the caves in the towers sheltered partisan units; more recently, the 1991–95 war left mines in the surrounding forests so stick strictly to marked trails.