Visit the European Rainforest: Biogradska gora National Park is open to visitors

Tuesday, 18 April 2023

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Biogradska Gora National Park has been reopened since yesterday, April 14. The daily ticket price is 4 euros per person, while children under 15 and persons with disabilities are exempt from paying the ticket.

The annual ticket price is 13.50 euros for all five National Parks of Montenegro with an unlimited number of visits.

"We are ready to welcome our first visitors, real nature lovers in one of the last rainforests in Europe." From May 1, 2023, sport fishing will be allowed on the waters of Lake Biograd according to precisely defined rules. Also, boating and kayaking will be available when the weather conditions stabilize", the National Parks of Montenegro state.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a walk along the educational trail around Lake Biograd and learn more about the wealth of flora and fauna in the Visitor Center near Lake Biograd. And during the season, there will be educational workshops for our youngest visitors," said the director of NP Biogradska gora, Marija Dulović.

All visitors are asked to carefully plan their journey and stay in the protected areas, to follow the rules that are clearly indicated in the park and not to follow unmarked trails due to the large amount of snow in the higher mountain areas.

National Park Biogradska Gora

Between the rivers Lim and Tara, in the central part of Bjelasica, there is the National Park Biogradska Gora, and within it one of the three last European rainforests.

This basin has been protected since 1878, when it became the so-called King's Ban - a gift to the then King Nikola. Even then, there was an awareness of the necessity of preserving Biogradska Gora for the future.

Indeed, it remained almost untouched - a bright example of the idea of Montenegro as an ecological state. Glacial landforms - high mountain peaks and glaciers create a wonderful contrast with lakes and meadows. Although these peaks are over 2000 m high (the highest peak is Crna Glava - 2139 m above sea level) and certain types of trees in the rainforest are 40-50 meters high, the area looks very tame.

There are 26 separate plant communities in the Park, with about 2,000 plant species, among which 20% are endemic to the Balkan Peninsula and about 90 tree species. The animal world is also diverse, with 200 species of birds, 80 species of butterflies, 350 species of insects and typical mammals (wolf, bear, fox, roe deer, squirrel, fox). There are numerous archaeological sites, sacral monuments, necropolises, and folk architecture (katuns, savardacs, log cabins, mills) is especially characteristic.

In the very heart of the rainforest, at an altitude of 1094 m above sea level, is Lake Biograd. Its unique blue-green color is given by the dense forest that is reflected in it, with its 86 species of dendroflora, many of which are protected (Biogradska Gora National Park, by the way, is home to 20% of the endemic species of the Balkan Peninsula).

The lakes that adorn the national park are:

Lake Biograd
Pešića lake
Ursulavac lakes (Big and Small)
Šiška Lakes (Big and Small)

The largest and most beautiful lake is Biogradsko. The lake is located at 1,094 meters above sea level. in the central part of Biogradska gora, in the place where the glacial wave stopped in the distant past, melted and created a water surface.

Nature lovers can really enjoy walking through spruce, fir, beech, elm, oak or linden forests, and ornithologists and bird lovers can enjoy watching the flight of an eagle or a hawk. Larger game animals include deer, chamois, bears and wolves. As many as 80 species of butterflies can be seen here - 40% of the total number of species in Montenegro.

Sources: Sharemontenegro/ Moja Crna Gora