Tremzina
is the last mountain of the Velebit massif.
At
this point, after 140km long span, the longest coastal mountain chain
of the Mediterranean loses its hight and gets terminated by
the Zrmanja river.
Due to its outposted position,
Tremzina offers reasonably interesting views; partly to the
Zrmanja river canyon and accross it, down to the
northdalmatian plain, to Mt. Postak of the Licka Pljesevica
group, as well as due west to its higher
and larger neighbour, Mt. Crnopac.
Mountain itself
is of the mainstream steepness, slopes covered with thick
woods. Hogsback is grassy, with few rocky outcrops peeping
from the shrubs. Eventually, there are two separate summits on
the mountain, one on the NW end named Cardak, and the other
one at the eastern end named Oklinak, about 1km
walking distance between the two.
Approach
and summiting:
From the
smalltown Gracac in the southern part of Lika, Croatia, drive
due east for Knin. After 9km - and about 200m
before the Malovan train stop, side macadam
road forks due right, overpassing the railway track. After
approx. 2km, skid road diverges from the main road.
From here, following the marked trail through the woods, it
takes about 45 minutes to reach the mountain hogsback, and
another quarter of an hour to the main summit, named Oklinak.
Gear
required: sturdy hiking boots, food and water for
about 2-3 hours.
After rain, skid road tend to
get really muddy.
Mountain is also popular
goal with the mountainbikers, common route starting fro m the
direction of Krupa river> MTB
route description
Panorama
Panorama of the Southeast Velebit:
from left to the right:
Mt. Tremzina, Mt. Crnopac and Mt. Celavac
Other Activities
As climbing Tremzina won't take much time - just
a few of either
morning or afternoon hours, here are few proposals
how to kill the rest of the day.
One option is to
visit the Cerovac caves. Those are the largest
showcaves in Croatia, located
at the northern foot of Mt. Crnopac. En route
from Tremzina to Gracac or vice versa.
Another is to
visit the
karstic spring of the Zrmanja river, not so short but not too
much of too long detour either.
Cerovac
caves Cerovac
caves (Cerovacke spilje) are three Karst caves connected
with several shafts. The Lower (
length 2682m)
and the Upper (length 1295m) Cerovac Cave are
famous for their speleothems, easy to visit and opened
to the public. Entrance
hall of the Donja (lower) Cerovacka Cave
was a shelter for prehistoric man. Remains of this people were
found in the cave sediments. Bones
of cave bears (Ursus
spelaeus) were found in other
parts of the cave.
The
lower cave was discovered during the construction of the nearby
Gracac-Knin railroad in 1913. Pottery from the Illyrian tribe
of Iapodes were found on the first 100m, dating more then
3000 years in the past.
Getting there: Drive
direction mt. Tremzina (Gracac-Knin road), after 1km
southeast of Gračac spot the large signpost and fork to the right from
the main road. Paved road till the parking lot. Caves
are open year round Mon-Fri 9-17, Sat, Sun,
Hollydays 9-18. Last tour one hour before closing. Guided
tours only.
Zrmanja
river source Zrmanja is a karstic river, 69km long Spring
of Zrmanja is located under mt. Postak,
at the bottom of vertical, 200m high
funnel shaped rock called Misije. From there, river
flows southward through the narrow arable valley, encircling
the southern end of Velebit through a 200 metre
deep canyon, then turns westwards and
flows into the Adriatic sea in the Novigradsko more bay. Canyon part of the river is
popular with rafting fans, karstic spring itself is ,
however, seldom visited.
Getting there: Drive from
Gracac direction Tremzina and down the Gracac-Knin road, till
the road signpostlabeled
Vrelo Zrmanje (about 32km from Gracac, 22km from the foot of mt.
Tremzina). Follow the paved downhill
road into the karstic field till the Zrmanja vrelo village. From there, trail leads due
NE first next to the river, then through few small villages, cuts the meadow
carpeted with Horse Mint (hard to miss the odour)
bypasses the old orthodox cemetary and meets the river again. Foothpath bypasses
small dam from the left before reaching the river spring. From Zrmanja Vrelo
village it takes under an hour to get here.
For
more mountaineering/hiking ideas, interested parties are kindly
encouraged to visit Mt. Crnopac Sp
page.
getting
there by car: From Rijeka, along the coast. Suitable
if you're coming via Trieste (Italy). Trieste -
Rijeka 70 km Rijeka (Zadar, Split direction) – Starigrad
Paklenica – Maslenica , here follow Gracac direction (round
40km via Prezid pass)
From Zagreb. Suitable
if you're coming from eastern or central Europe via Ljubljana
(Slovenia), Maribor (Slovenia) or Budapest (Hungary). Zagreb –
Karlovac (Plitvice direction) – Plitvice (Split direction) – Gracac. or A1
motorway Zagreb-Split, exit Sv.Rok, another 19 km
to Gracac down the state road no.50
by train: Nearest railway station
is Gracac again. Both passenger and fast trains
stop there. In high season, at
least one train a day has bicycle compartment bicycle fare is fixed to 30
Croatian kuna, regardless of the mileage. (usually trains
no.824 Zagreb-Split and no.825 Split to Zagreb) Croatian
Railways site (query field is the green
box on the left, labeled upit.(Od
= From, Do = To)
by
coach coach lines from Zagreb to Zadar
stop at Gracac about 3x times a day query
by plane: The closest airport
is Zadar, located 46 km south west of Gracac> Served
by number of low-fare carriers. Website
Weather, Maps, Security
Large and detailed topographic map
Weather
7 - day forecast from Croatian
Meteorological and Hydrological Service link
More detailed forecast for
Gracac (long term / hour by hour) link
Maps SMAND sheet 18b
JUZNI VELEBIT III Sveto
Brdo-Tulove grede-Crnopac-Zrmanja scale 1:30000 online
web shop
Security
In caseof trouble, Mountain rescue service
number to call is 112. Mountain rescue service in
Zadar: cellular:
091/721-0010 website
Mountain
rescue service in Croatia is free of charge.
Parents refers to a larger category under which an object falls. For example, theAconcagua mountain page has the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits' asparents and is a parent itself to many routes, photos, and Trip Reports.