Medvednica
Medvednica, Travel Guide with travel tips for holidays in Medvednica, Croatia
The Nature Park Medvednica is located in northern Croatia in a heavily forested mountainous region to the north of Zagreb. It is home to the Zrinski mine, which is now closed for mining and open to the public.
Medvednica is also situated in a very mountainous area, which provides a great number of diverse habitats along with a wide variety of flora and fauna. It is heavily forested but has well established trails and roads going through it. Medvednica has been mined and harvested for natural resources since prehistoric times, but since it's adoption as a park in the late 19th century it has been largely permitted to revert to it's natural state, with only minimal logging and mining operations.
Because of the presence of the Zrinski mine and other mining areas, Medvednica is an excellent spot for geologists or persons interested in rock science to visit. Tours to the Zrinski are available, and the Zrinski was cleaned of trash and made more friendly to visitors in the spring of 2008. There are also other mines in the area, some of which are safe to visit. Veternica cave is also open to the public and tours are conducted regularly. Veternica is famous for it's large bat population, and visitors may "adopt" a bat by contributing to a fund which ensures the survival of the local bat population. Medvednica is also home to many species of birds, and is one of many stopping points for migratory birds. There are also a number of castles and old noble houses which border the park and are now being preserved for their cultural heritage, and are open to visitors. There are many hiking, biking and skiing trails which are open during specific parts of the year.
Access to Medvednica is by car, bus or train from Zagreb. There is no entry fee to visit the park, however a guided tour is 20 kn, and tickets to the cave and the mine are 15 kn for children, 20 kn for students and pensioners, and 25 kn for adults.
