Una NP

Una

National Park

A UNIQUE NATURAL AREA OFFERING EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE: A

PEACEFUL HAVEN, GREAT FUN AND A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER

Named after the impressive River Una—meaning the only one—which is the name the Romans gave to the river, Una National Park attracts visitors throughout the year and is most beautiful in the spring, summer, and autumn season. Here, awareness of the preservation of natural heritage is taught from an early age through ecological workshops and quizzes for young children. For years, environmental clean-ups called Just a Little Bit of Good Will have been organised every year on Saturdays from April to June, and 17 May marks the Day of the Una River. A few days later, on 21 May, there will also be a lot of fun here because runners will come to participate in the 3rd Una National Park Hill Race which is organised by the Bihać-based Ultra Sporting Association.

FUN AT THE PARK

Rich in falls, waterfalls, cascades and rapids, the River Una is a real treat for extreme sport enthusiasts who love rafting, kayaking, and diving. The rafting season starts on 1 May and lasts until mid-October. For a large number of local and foreign guests, Una Regatta—the popular international tourist and sporting event—is the highlight of the summer season which allows them to enjoy the region’s gorgeous landscapes for four days. Una Regatta has been postponed in response to the global coronavirus outbreak, but its 48th edition will take place in the last week of July, which is when it usually takes place, and the official date will be announced soon.

SPECTACULAR WATERFALLS

While you are sailing on the River Una you are passing through some of the most gorgeous landscapes the national park has to offer. Štrbački buk Waterfalls is the highest and most spectacular waterfall there.

A several hundred metres long boardwalk with wooden stairs and handrails gives visitors easier access to the parks’ stunning waterfalls, while small lookout points along the boardwalk provide a better view and overview of other attractions in the park. One of its most beautiful attractions are old grain grinding mills. Each of them is sheltered in a wooden house built on piles over water or on raised stone pillars standing in the water. The road leading to Strbački buk, which runs for 5.2 km, has been paved recently. That means that the star attraction in Una National Park has become even more accessible to tourists, and this will certainly lead to a higher number of visitors to the park. Known for its grain mills and pumpkins in history, Martin Brod is also a special place in the park. There are many waterfalls in its travertine area. Among them, Jalak, Srednji and Donji waterfalls, as well as Veliki slap, and Milančev buk—the largest and most beautiful site in Martin Brod which was nominated for the UNESCO Natural Heritage Site List—stand out.

The entire Martin Brod Waterfalls Complex has a vertical drop of 54 metres with an average flow rate of 63 cubic meters of water per second. From this place, and throughout the village the complex is situated in, you can see many other waterfalls, pools and cascades, which makes it one of the most popular sections of the River Una and parts of Una National Park. Near the path leading to Milančev buk there is a picnic area called Lučica. Nowadays, it is a multifunctional area designated for camping. New toilet facilities have been built here.

There are other sites popular with tourists in Martin Brod. In Gornje selo (Upper Village), there is a natural, environment-friendly washing machine called “bučnica”, believed to be over 300 years old. Bučnica has seven spin speeds and effectively cleans the laundry without any washing agents thanks to a high concentration of pure and

oxygen-rich water, which creates a centrifuge effect inside a barrel with small holes.

Aware of the value of the resources they have, representatives of Una National Park believe that the entire area should be branded and added to a world travel destinations map. They also think that conditions for the candidacy of both pearls of the park, Štrbački buk Waterfalls and the Martin Brod Waterfalls Complex, for inscription on the UNESCO Natural Heritage Site List have been met.

A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Una National Park delights visitors with its natural beauty, cascades, leisure and recreation activities which include fishing, and a variety of delicious food on offer. The trout and fly fishing season began on 1 March, and all fishing areas will be open as of 1 May. Una National Park is planning to organise an international fly fishing competition in June and October in the following fishing areas: #1 Martin Brod and #1B Kulen Vakuf on the Una and Unac rivers. The abundance of high-quality river fish attracts a large number of sport fishermen to fly fishing sites. The River Unac is rich in large brown and rainbow trout, because these two types of fish weigh between 2 to 6 kilograms on average in the River Unac, even though larger size trout weighing over 10 kilograms hides in its whirlpools. In addition to trout, grayling can also be found in these two rivers. Year after year, accommodation units in Una National Park have been growing in number. A newly built hotel with 100 beds has just been opened in Orašac. In addition to Orašac, if you want to stay in the heart of Una National Park, you can also book a room in Kulen Vakuf, Lohovo, Račić, Ripač, and Martin Brod, but also near Bihać, Bosanski Petrovac and other towns in Una-Sana Canton.

Una National Park recently presented a conceptual design for the construction of a cable car which would connect the medieval Old Town of Ostrovica and Kulen Vakuf. The cable car would cost several million Bosnian marks to complete. Its construction would improve the tourist offer, make it easier for a large number of tourists to reach different places in the region, and allow visitors to discover Una National Park from a completely different perspective.