Crag Summary

Paklenica serves up a high number of routes on a silver platter making it difficult to know where to start. We ended up picking some lines we liked the look of, that were dry and *bonus* right next to the ‘underground bunker museum‘ which was small but the kids and grandparents really enjoyed – and ironically included a small kids bouldering room. There are a whole host of single-pitch climbing areas all along the main footpath from the car-park – super kid-friendly but not super-wild and a little bit ‘on-show’ for passing visitors! There are more remote climbing areas and adventurous multi-pitch adventures to be had – perhaps less kid-friendly but plenty more to explore that’s for sure. Note that there is a daily fee to enter (per person) and park (per vehicle).

I read reviews about the climbs being polished – perhaps we were lucky but I found the climbs nice and sharp (nowhere near as polished as some of the limestone we climbed in Belgium, Italy and France) however the grades did feel a tad stiff.

The rock overall dries quickly – we had a huge storm in the early morning around 4am and could see the rock drying before our eyes. Interestingly, when we arrived the riverbed running through the gorge was bone-dry but at midday the stormwater finally reached us – rushing down and filling the river with gusto – climbers on the Eastern side of the riverbank had to quickly gather up their rope-bags etc.

• Style: single-pitch sport, multi-pitch sport and trad
• Parking: 44.30263, 15.47081
• Topo and Approach details:
  • The Crag provides quite a bit of information but it is quite difficult to navigate – partly because of the sheer number of climbs in close proximity.
  • Some routes have a little metal plaque with name and grade.
  • There is a Paklenica guidebook which definitely would be a good investment if spending more time here to really get to know it better.
• We visited on: Tuesday, 24th September 2024
• Who else was there: the number of climbers increased as the day went on and the rock dried out – many routes and space to spread out.

Nearby

The village of Starigrad nearby offers camping, access to pretty seafront and restaurant options. Restaurant Dinko was fantastic- super yummy mussels.

We came via the Cerovac Caves and moved on to the city of Zadar.