Northern Velebit National Park

Croatia's youngest national park (declared in 1999) covers 109 square kilometres of the most rugged and biodiverse stretch of the Velebit ridge — a labyrinth of dolines, deep karst pits, dwarf-pine krummholz and unclimbable limestone teeth called kukovi. Access is via the beautifully engineered Rudolfova Cesta road out of Krasno up to Babić Siča, from where a network of marked trails fans out. Two Strict Nature Reserves lie at its heart: Hajdučki and Rožanski kukovi, a moon-like maze of vertical grey towers that hides the Lukina Jama-Trojama cave system — at 1,431 m the deepest cave in Croatia and one of the ten deepest on Earth. Botanists come for the endemic Croatian bellflower, Degenia velebitica and Sibiraea altaiensis, all growing within a few hundred metres of the visitor centre. Wildlife includes brown bear, lynx, wolf, chamois and golden eagle. The park is best entered from Krasno for the visitor centre and the classic Zavižan traverse, or from the coastal side via Oltari for a more strenuous approach. Bring water — the karst absorbs everything, so there are almost no natural springs above 1,000 m.