National park „Durmitor“

Whether you choose the winter or the summer season for visiting Durmitor, you will not feel the lack of unique mountain view. The National Park “Durmitor” spreads across 39000 ha, and its area of 20000 ha has been included in the UNESCO since 1980. Zabljak, the city with the greatest height above the sea level at Balkans, 1456 m, is situated here. It is surrounded by 23 mountain peaks over 2300m high. There are 17 glacier lakes called  “mountain eyes” in the area of Durmitor. The most famous is Black Lake, covered with ice and crystals of frozen snowflakes in the winter. You can swim in it in the middle of the summer. Between the steep hillsides or hidden in the green, thick foliage, are the magic beauties: Zmijinje, Barno, Riblje, Vrazje, Modro and the other lakes. Bobotov kuk, the peak high 2523 m, dominates over entire Montenegro.

The Austrian scientist Oskar Bauman was the first man, who climbed at Bobotov Kuk, called Cirova pecina ( Ciro`s Cave) in his text. In his work “The first step on Cirova pecina” he says:” There was a stony valley covered with snow, spreading on our east, while on the other side there was green scenery of Jezero  (the Lake) greeting us. Here I left Djuro, who suffered from dizziness, and I went for climbing the main peak with one shepherd. He took his shoes off and walked barefoot.After one hour of climbing, we left the peak behind us and stepped at the crest between the Soa and Kablinova. We were looking at the valley we had visited yesterday, and at the Skrcko and Malo Jezero (the Little Lake) sparkling. They looked like dark blue eyes.”

The Tara canyon, the deepest canyon in Europe, and the canyons of Susica and Komarnica, contributes to the beauty of Durmitor. The rich flora, containing over 1500 species, derived from the far geologic past, has been saved. The fauna is also rich; there are over 130 kinds of birds, and eagles are distinguished among them. The bears and the wolves are also typical for the Durmitor woods.

In the summer, those who enjoy the nature can climb at the mountain peaks or walk through the woods and fields. They can also pick up the wood fruits, go hunting or fishing, floating on Tara River, and in the winter they can ski. In the winter Zabljak becomes the center of the social life for the Yugoslav elite. Ledena pecina (the Ice Cave), located under the peak Obla Glava, 2100 m above sea level, represents the fascinating natural phenomena. It can be easily reached, by the marked mountain path. One can enjoy its “museum” of stalactites and stalagmites, even in the summer. There are snowy areas in the highest parts of Durmitor even in the middle of summer, and you can ski in the area of Velika Kalica.

Your visit will be enriched with the numerous manifestations, restaurants with the various dishes of our national cousine, cafe–bars, etc. There are no towns in the world located on such a height like it is Zabljak. It “moved up” to 1465 meters of the massive mountain of Durmitor”. Center of Durmitor’s area, Zabljak is the metropole of the mountain tourism in Montenegro. Arouse on the locality “high in the clouds”, in the primordial nature, it can accommodate thousand of tourist in its hotels and in private accommodation. Those who are looking for the fresh air, potable spring water, beautiful horizons and silence of the green clearings, the bubbling of mountain brooks and all those who consider a mountain a challenge and attraction should visit this place. This is also the right place for you to try the traditional national meals - hot boiled milk, cheese made of un-boiled milk, cream (kajmak) from wooden trough and yogurt from buckets, hot polenta, hot round bread or corn bread baked under the iron pan…Still, what really fascinates the guests are the whole series of mountain peaks, “headed” by the stooped peak called Meded. Other than these peaks there are number of other “jewels” like grassy plateaus and valleys, glaciers and snow waters even in the middle of the summer, areas of the beautiful conifers, beech grooves, colonies of juniper threes and the picturesque villages and summer pastures. And as a special jewel of this area there are lakes in the forest clearings and valleys called “Gorske oci” (mountain eyes) for a long time now. There are 18 of them here and the most accessible and the most visited are Crno (Black) and the Zminje Lake, while the other are not so accessible and they can only be reached to by the marked paths but with the certain efforts, as it is the case, after all, with all the untouched beauties.

Therefore, not by accident, the narrower part of the mountain Durmitor with the Canyon of the river Tara, the surface of which is 36 thousand hectare, was registered as a part of the UNESCO’s world inheritance and was proclaimed the National park. Of course Zabljak took care of all those who wanted to meet, enjoy or to learn about this corner of the world’s nature. It is possible to accommodate approximately thousand guests in every part of the day or of the year in the hotels “Planinka”, “Jezera”, “Zabljak” and “Durmitor”.  Of course, the accommodation is also provided in the country households, motels and camps. Apart from the orderly and marked pedestrian paths, leading towards the Durmitor’s peaks, guests can also use two cable railways, more then 2000 meters long, leading from the hotel “Durmitor” to “Mali Stuoc” and Savin kuk peaks. Those who adore winter sports, besides the very neat skiing and sledding paths, have at the disposal three ski lifts.

And the circle road going around the mountain, 56 km long, leading along the Piva’s and Tara’s slopes, and through the other attractive regions can give you one more unforgettable experience of this area and the legendary mountain of Durmitor.