Nature Park & Reserve Blidinje
Blidinje is a Nature park in Bosnia & Herzegovina, a spacious valley 5 km long, at an elevation of 1.150-1.300 meters, between Čvrsnica, Čabulja and Vran mountains with a total area of 364 square km. The park contains the Vran mountain’s highest peak at 2.074 meters and Čvrsnica mountain’s highest peak Ploča at 2.228 meters. It contains Grabovica valley with small Grabovica creek, a special reserve within the park, squeezed deep into the mountain, and forming a deep canyon between steep cliffs of Čvrsnica mountain.
The melting glaciers from Čvrsnica during the two past ice ages created this open and barren valley Dugo Polje field leading into the park. The most important hydro-graphic phenomena in the area of the park is the largest mountain lake in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Blidinje Lake.
The park is ideal for hiking, biking, walking or skiing, any nature lover will fall in love with breath-taking landscapes. If are visiting in the winter, you can enjoy skiing in the modern ski center, located at altitude of 1800 m at the foot of the mountains Vran and Čvrsnica. This is a favourite ski destination for the visitors from Herzegovina and Dalmatia.
This park is a unique natural phenomenon, that includes many endemic species of flora and fauna with a lot of sources of clean, drinkable water. Accompanying the rocky slopes are thick forests of pine, including the endemic white-bark Bosnian pine. Three types of wild thyme and dozens of wild flowers cover the valley and mountain sides in the spring and summer.
The valley is dotted with the Bosnia’s trademark stećci medieval tombstones. It is not clear how long human settlements have existed here but research began when Blidinje recently received Nature park status. There is also a Franciscan monastery that is located within the park and open to visitors. A self-proclaimed micronation, a parodical project, is located in the middle of this Nature Park – The Outlaw Republic of Mijat Tomić, headquartered in a nearby motel.
The most important hydrographic phenomena in the area of the park is largest mountain lake in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Blidinje Lake…