National Parks in Montenegro
Montenegro is home to five national parks. Protecting everything from gorges and summits to rivers and lakes, Montenegro’s national parks are where you need to be for outdoor adventures.
Durmitor National Park
The Durmitor National Park is the largest of the country’s five designated parks, packed with jagged peaks, theatrical canyons – most obviously the stunning Tara River canyon with its wild thrashing river and deep mountain lakes. It was announced a National Park in 1952 and it has been on the UNESCO’s List of World Natural and Cultural Heritage since 1980.
Some fifty peaks higher than 2,000 metres above sea level including Bobotov Peak (2,525 metres above sea level) rise above plateaus, alpine meadows and forests cover the landscape. Particular impression is created by 18 glacial lakes, called “mountain eyes”, located at 1.500 meters above the sea level. The biggest and the most beautiful is Black Lake, with stunning scenery, and a giant peak Međed, above the lake.
Whether you get your walking through the woods, rafting, or just lazing around beside glassy mountain lakes, if you like the outdoors you will love Durmitor.
Biogradska Gora National Park
The National Park Biogradska Gora is situated in the north-eastern part of Montenegro between rivers Tara and Lim. It occupies the central part of the Bjelasica massif. The park covers the area of 5.650 ha. Biogradska Gora is the most forested national park in Europe while Bjelasica is the greenest mountain of Montenegro very rich with water.
Established in 1952 as the first national park in Montenegro, has a long history of environmental because the area of Biogradska Gora was declared a National Park in just six years after it was declared the first National Park in the world.
The greatest natural treasure of this area is the virgin forest of Biogradska gora, which is one of the last three virgin forests in Europe.
At the altitude of 1.094 meters, in the heart of the rainforest, there is Biogradsko Lake, the biggest and best known of the numerous glacial lakes in the area of the National Park.
Prokletije National Park
The National Park Prokletije, as of 2009, is the youngest national park in Montenegro, completing Montenegrin natural wealth together with the other 4 national parks.
The Prokletije Mountains are a vast expanse of wilderness, forming a border with Albania and Kosovo and taking the spot of the highest part of the Dinaric Alps, so in some sources, they can be referred to as ‘the Montenegrin Alps’ climate.
Hardly accessible, rocky and wild, called accursed or forbidden by the local people, these mountains have remained unknown and sparsely populated for centuries, which has kept its nature the same as it has always been. In the massif of Prokletije, among many springs the most beautiful are Ali-Pasha’s springs and Oko Skakavice (Spring of the river Skakavica).
Lovćen National Park
National Park Lovćen is located in rocky region of Dinara Alps. Slopes of Mountain Lovćen steeply rise from coastal region of Budva and west part of Cetinje. Park is bordered on South with highway Budva – Cetinje and on North with old Kotor road.
Lovćen National Park offers great hiking in spectacular mountain landscape, but also an insight into the country’s rich history through its many monuments, including the imposing Njegoš Mausoleum. Aditionally, this is the location of Mount Lovćen, the “black mountain” that gives the country its very name.
Lake Skadar National Park
Lake Skadar is the largest in the Balkans and the only national park dominated by aquatic and wetland ecosystems.
Lake Skadar and the encompassing national park offer everything from towering mountains and quaint fishing villages, to tiny islands and old fortresses. The dolphin-shaped lake, which is the largest lake in the Balkans, spans two countries, Montenegro and Albania, with the majority being on the Montenegrin side.
