Biokovo is one of the largest and the most beautiful Dalmatian mountains, it is amazingly close to the sea.
Mt Biokovo is also remarkable because it rises 1800 m above sea level.
It is the highest and the longest peak of the country.
As a reward to those who manage to ascend Mt Biokovo, there is an amazing view of the sea vasts of the Adriatic sea, the isles and the shore of Italy.
It is rumoured that in clement weather, from the top of Mt Biokovo, you can see the Italian shore of the Adriatic sea, for the distance between Croatia and Italy is only 250 km.
The Biokovo mountain range begins on the shore of the Adriatic and stretches across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
You can also see the peaks of the Biokovo in Montenegro, across which the way to Albania lies.
The Biokovo mountain range has a whole 16 peaks of different height.
The highest of them are not lower than 1300 meters.
The climate of the Biokovo mountain range is exceptionally congenial and has healing properties, and this is why there are many health resorts and holiday centres at the bottom of the mountains. Rare species of birds and animals dwell in the forests of the mountains.
Here as well, there was built the largest Botanical garden — Kotisina, located on the way down to the sea near the village of Kotisina. The garden was founded at the end of the 20th century, and is nowadays popular with tourists as a unique natural monument where you can meet the rarest kinds of birds and animals.
The Biokovo has the typical karst phenomena — basins, swallow holes, ice caves and vertical caves, the deepest one of which (Amphora) is 788 meters deep, and is the 4th deepest cave in Croatia.
At first sight, the empty bare Biokovo is rich in the numerous species of plants and animals.
Apart from beech trees, fir trees and Dalmatian pine trees, which grow in some places, you can also find numerous kinds of plants, among which some are endemic.
The fauna of Biokovo is rich an varied, with many endemics and tertiary relics, and the underground fauna conceals a real treasure with 60 endemics of the Biokovo.
Many things indicate how man and the mountain coexist, such as the archaeological remains, small churches, chapels and herders’ homes.
Apart from mountain trails, a 23 km long road leads to the highest peak of the Biokovo — St Jure.
The road is the highest asphalted road in Croatia.
Entrance ticket to Biokovo park cost
for adult 40 kn
The Biokovo mountain park Croatia photo
The Biokovo mountain park Croatia photo
Video about the Biokovo park:
Biokovo natiral park
Severe stones sink in the blue of the sea.
The coast of Makarska Riviera is a territory where every lover of nature and the sea can find a place for himself. The locals say that in their riviera the severe stones of the Biokovo look into the blue waters of the Adriatic sea as though in a mirror.
Makarska Riviera, with its centre in the resort town of Makarska, is located at the bottom of the Biokovo, in a sea bay between cape Osejava and St Peter peninsula. This central spot of Dalmatia has a rich touristic tradition, and the favoured places to have a rest among tourists are Brela, Baska Voda, Podgora, Gradac, Tucepi, and the town of Makarska itself. Practically all tourists who decide to travel to any of these towns visit the Biokovo natural park, which is located on the mountain towering above Makarska riviera.
The Biokovo is a mountain range, mainly consisting of calcareous rocks and located in close proximity of the sea near Makarska. It is a narrow and high mountain range, stretching for 70 km along the shore. It is located between river Cetina and river Neretva — two of the largest mountain rivers of Croatia.
The woods which in the past covered the slopes of the Biokovo, had the same fate as the woods on many other mountains of Croatia: trying to free up space for fields for graze lands, people burned them and cut them down. In the lowlands there are still some thick pine woods remaining. Also, there are many areas of olive trees and grapes here. On heights over 200 m above sea level, there are only oak and hornbeam woods, in which chamoises live.
The highest peak of the Biokovo — St.Juri — attracts numerous climbers, hunters, and tourists charmed by the beauty of the mountain meadows, peaks and crevices. When there are no clouds, then from the peak, there is an enchanting view of the mountains located on the territory of Bosnia, of the picturesque isles in the Adriatic sea, and if you are lucky, you can see the Italian coast.
In Biokovo natural park there grow numerous endemic species of plants, one of which is brachytic bell-flower. You can also see the Dalmatian garden dormouse and the eagle hunting snakes on the rocks of the Biokovo.
Makarska Riviera is located on the intersection of naval and land routes, which gives the tourists staying here the opportunity to have active rest here. They can visit the Biokovo natural park, look around Split and Dubrovnik, visit the isles of Hvar, Brac and Korcula. Brela town is famous for its sandy beaches. In Baska Voda, there is a museum of seashells, and an ethnographic and an archaeological museum.
Biokovo is a mountain rooted in the sea, and with its peak in the lightnings, as the Croatian writer Jure Franicevic Plocar wrote. And indeed — during a storm or a thunderstorm it is best to avoid the peaks of Biokovo — wind blows here with lethal force. With every 180 metres of elevation, the temperature on Biokovo drops one degree. The average annual temperatures between 500 m and the peak fluctuate from +1 C to 13,8 C.
The Biokovo also receives its unusual beauty from “vrtace” — circular cone-shaped cavities, normally having the diameter of 150 m and 60 to 80 m deep with fir-tree oases inside.
At the bottom of such cavities there are usually crevices looking like wells, created by water and up to 100 m deep. The bottom of such wells is permanently covered with snow. In the past, the locals were involved in the risky business of getting snow from the crevices and delivering it to the hot shore, showing it to numerous tourists and making a living this way. Nowadays, only speleologists descend into the crevices, attracted by the labyrinth of the underground passages and caves.
Official web of Biokovo natural park //biokovo.com