Northern Velebit National Park

Northern Velebit National Park
Location of Northern Velebit National Park in Croatia
Location	Lika-Senj County, Croatia
Area	109 km2 (42 sq mi)
Established	1999
Visitors	15,100 (in 2010)
Website	http://www.np-sjeverni-velebit.hr/

The Northern Velebit National Park (Croatian: Nacionalni park Sjeverni Velebit) is a national park in Croatia that covers 109 km² of the northern section of the Velebit mountains, the largest mountain range in Croatia. Because of the abundant variety of this part of the Velebit range, the area was upgraded from a nature reserve in 1999, and opened as a national park in September the same year.

The whole of the Velebit range is a "nature park", a lesser conservation category. Another national park on Velebit is the Paklenica on its southern side.

The park reserve is protected and visitors are restricted to designated trails. Inside the reserve is the Visibaba (Galanthus) botanical reserve, with an abundance of the endemic Croatian subspecies of Sibiraea altaiensis, and the Zavižan–Balinovac–Velika kosa botanical reserve, famous for its outstanding collection of mountain flora species. Inside the reserve is the well-known Velebit Botany Garden, founded by pharmacology professor and botanist Fran Kušan in 1967.

The Park is criss-crossed with mountaineering trails. The best-known is Premužić's Trail, named after its constructor, the forester Ante Premužić who built it in late 1933. The path runs through the most beautiful and most interesting parts of the park. From the numerous peaks in the surroundings there are magnificent views of the Adriatic Sea and its islands (Pag, Rab, Goli otok, Prvić and Krk) as well as of the continental side.

Adding to the Park's cultural value are the numerous ruins of so-called "summer lodges". These remain from when Velebit was populated by shepherds and cattle farmers. On its coastal slopes are many ruined houses, lodges and stone walls, all the remaining evidence of a lost local population.

The Zavižan (1676 m) peak is within the park, the highest meteorological station in Croatia.

The special reservations in the park are two locales called Hajdučki kukovi and Rožanski kukovi. Their names come from a folk name given to large stone masses which rise up over the surroundings of the Velebit mountains. They are in the center of the park, but are not a regular part of it, access to them is restricted to scientific researchers and educational visitors.