On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
lashonharangue
My last OTR submission included a picture of a Krka National Park waterfall. WaterGirl sent me a note saying I should submit one with all waterfalls. I actually went to two national parks in Croatia on that trip, Krka and Plitvice Lakes. Here are some photos from both. I have little to tell about these individually. Mostly it was just a lot of walking on well maintained trails and taking photos with my phone. Plitvice was especially impressive. The geological processes there (carbonate rock dissolution and tofa formation) were responsible for a seemingly endless series of lakes and waterfalls.
We visited the park at the end of April. Kind of shoulder season with a fair number of visitors. But apparently not what it is like in summer.
I love the color of the water.
One of the few pictures I took looking downstream over a gentle cascade.
Plitvice Lakes is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There were a lot of visitors but I am sure it would be much more crowded in the summer. Unfortunately, the weather had turned to intermittent light rain the previous evening and the skies were overcast for much of our visit. It did make it cooler to walk around the park. There is a shuttle service that takes you from the lower section to the upper. We took one and walked down along the trails.
This is the biggest waterfall in the park. If you look closely at the previous photo you can see a boardwalk that crosses the canyon. It goes to the bottom of this waterfall.
Many of the smaller falls had lots of vegetation.
A piece of travertine rock that broke off from the falls. If you read this article on how tufa builds up to create this typography you will see this waterfall at the bottom.
We descended stairs to the left of this waterfall and walked around this small lake.
The sun was just starting to come out.
With the sun out you can better appreciate the color of the water.
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mad citizen
These are great pics, thank you for sharing! I got to spend a week in Zagreb for some meetings in 2018, but would love to go back to Croatia to do some tourist stuff like this park. Now I see better what to expect.
JanieM
That “biggest waterfall” shot took my breath away. I mean, literally, coming upon it unexpectedly. I can’t imagine what it must be like to see it in real life.
A lot of these are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Thanks for lovely pics of unknown (to me) places.
Dan B
Beautiful falls! It’s interesting that the tufa needs algae and/or moss to grow
There are thousands of falls and Cascades in the Cascades and Olympic but these are amazing in their elegance.
Yutsano
Wow. It reminds me of going over the Cascade Mountains especially in spring. Waterfalls are beautiful pretty much everywhere!
randy khan
These are really evocative. I’m thinking of the sound from the waterfalls and how they can blot out everything else.
stinger
How beautiful!
Benw
Dude you guys, stop kidding. Nobody believes beauty like this could possibly happen
:)
J R in WV
Wonderful waterfalls, great photos of falling water.
Thanks for sharing the experience!!!
Sister Golden Bear
Plitvice is absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend visiting, if you’re ever in Croatia. The lower part (near the hotels and tourist bus drop-offs) can be pretty crowded, but as I hiked to the upper part, the crowds definitely thinned out (at least in early June).
Sadly it’s also the place where the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, when a park ranger became the first person to die.
I wish I’d known about Krka, since I was within a few miles of there, when I drove the E65 down to Split. I do have some nice photos from near the Most Krka bridge.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
Beautiful, gorgeous falls. Thanks for the pictures.
pinacacci
I also was lucky as a teen to have walked Plitvice lakes. It was unbelievably beautiful and never left my memory. I was there when it was still Yugoslavia- I think right before Tito died. It’s just unworldly. Never seen anything like it before or since.
susanna
What dynamic gorgeous pictures.
These look like they could be advertisements for travel to Croatia. I spent time around Zagreb in 1969 (Tito-time) but in winter, so the cold kept me inside, and would have loved seeing these waterfalls, streams, lakes. A water wonderland.
Thanks for these.
Kattails
Wow, just wow. I can hear the rush of water, and the air must just be alive. That boardwalk looks amazing.
DaveInOz
A friend of ours got married in the early 80s and honeymooned in the Plitvice Lakes area. A few months later they were in the news broadcasts with images of tanks rolling down the road during the Balkan conflict.
We haven’t been there but several friends have recommended it so, perhaps when we can think about travel again…
way2blue
My husband & I visited Plitvice National Park in June, 2009. A friend who was familiar with Croatia, from touring with her accordion band, advised us to arrive early before the tour buses. Which we did, and took the ferryboat ride to the end of the main lake, to walk back. Really stunning lakes & falls. I even liked the forests—very different than California. I expected to see guys from 200 years ago on horseback… (When we got back to the main area, there was a long line of people waiting to catch to the ferryboat.)