Rock Climbing in Paklenica

The National Park of Paklenica is at the heart of Croatian rock climbing and is known as one of the top European rock climbing areas. Paklenica is a place of outstanding natural beauty, situated close to the sea near Starigrad-Paklenica.

The rock climbing is very varied from single pitch sports routes to big wall rock climbing routes up to 350m long, catering for the absolute beginners to the most experienced rock climber. In total there are over 340 routes here on good quality limestone rock, of which the majority of the routes are bolted.

There are over 170 single pitch sports routes mainly located at the entrance to the park, only a few minutes walk from the car park. The rest of the routes at Paklenica are multi-pitch with a mixture of pure bolted routes to trad routes requiring the placement of nuts and cams. The classic Anica kuk face has some big wall multi-pitch climbing up to 350m long, of which a photograph is shown below. Further information about the rock climbing routes in Paklenica is available here.

Map of Paklenica in Croatia

The Different Style of Routes to be found at Paklenica
Style of Climbing	Total No. of Routes	Up to 4c	5a to 5c	6a to 6b	6b+ to 6c+	7a to 7b	7b+ to 7c+	Over 8a
Single-pitch sports routes	176	17	35	63	32	15	8	6
Multi-pitch sports routes	125	13	17	39	27	12	14	3
Multi-pitch trad routes	44	25	3	8	5	3	0	0

Access to the Paklenica

Paklenica is reached from the small coastal town of Starigrad-Paklenica, which is approximately 46Km from the tourist town of Zadar. The National Park is well sign posted off the coastal road. Further information about getting to Paklenica is available here.

Climbers are required to purchase a climbing pass, available at the park reception. The prices for 2009 are; 3-day pass is 60 Kuna (just over £6); 5-day pass is 90 Kuna (just over £9). It should be noted this pass only allows climbing within the designated climbing area. Further information about the different types of routes at Paklenica, from single pitch sports routes in Klanci to the many multi-pitch classics on Anica kuk, is available here. There are more than 340 routes to choose from.

The classic north face of Anica kuk in Paklenica

The classic north face of Anica kuk, where the routes are up to 350m long.

Ideal time to visit Paklenica for rock climbing

The best time of the year to visit Paklenica for rock climbing is from April through to late October. The winter can be very windy and wet, and while in the high summer it can get very hot, though there is always shade to be found in the sports climbing area of Klanci to the north face of Anica kuk.
Every year there is an International Speed Climbing Competition held at the end of April and beginning of May. Further information about this speed climbing competition is available here.

Click on the image to view a larger photograph, showing the rock climbing to be found at Paklenica.