THE PLITVICE LAKES Park, the most widely renowned of Croatia’s national parks, is entered in the UNESCO Register of World Natural Heritage. Sixteen lakes interconnected by waterfalls created through the deposition of travertine, a light-coloured calcareous rock, constitute the chief attraction of this unique park. The wellspring of the River Korana issues from an area within the park, surrounded by dense forests of beech, fir and spruce, partly in the form of primeval virgin forest. Apart from the lakes and forests the park also contains several caves, springs and flowering meadows, and is inhabited by many rare but (here) still preserved species, one of these being the brown bear. The popularity of this park, conveniently situated on the main road leading from Zagreb to Dalmatia, is augmented by the forms of transport used for conveying visitors around its various parts (panoramic trains and electric-powered boats). The lakes comprise the Upper Lakes (of larger size), set amid forested gentle slopes, and the smaller Lower Lakes, nestling in a rugged, rocky canyon. The highest is located 637 metres above sea level, while the foot of the lowest fall (Sastavci), beneath which the River Korana begins its course, lies at an elevation of 503 metres. Down the length of this 134metre-long change in elevation there are countless larger and smaller waterfalls which constantly vary their appearance, and even height. Visitors are able to gain access to the falls via pathways built from logs which, as well as being pleasing to the eye, help preserve the travertine, the substance to which the Plitvice Lakes owe their very existence. Travertine is a specific form of soft, porous rock which in karst areas is created by water discharging dissolved limestone through the action of microorganisms, algae and moss. Of all the park’s lakes, Lake Propčansko is at the highest elevation, from where the murmur of waterfalls lower down is out of earshot. As the main visitors’ pathways are fairly remote, nature has been preserved in its original state. Unlike the spacious Lake Propčansko, set within its markedly green milieu, the canyon-like Lower Lakes are characterised by white, calcareous rocks. Besides the inspirational delight engendered by its own unique beauty, the purpose of every national park is to provide education about the basic natural values and processes that visitors are able to observe. This is achieved in Plitvice through the numerous informational materials obtainable from the National Park office, constructed from the characteristic natural resources of the Plitvice Lakes area: timber and stone, as with the park’s administration building. It is a moot point as to when the park is at its most beautiful. Is it in spring, when the meadows are bedecked with flowers and the forest turns green or in the autumn, with its numerous seasonal hues mirrored in the lakes, or perhaps in winter, when the waterfalls and surrounding trees are hushed and shrouded in ice in the snowbound landscape?