Nature Park Papuk

Waterfalls, streams, pathways and dense forest. Diverse wildlife, forest fruit and forest plants, guided tours and knowledge tours. Let’s mention more – picnic in proximity of Kutjevo, Croatian famous wine region and city. All this mentioned is Papuk, mountain in Slavonia and nature park with the same name.

Nature Park Papuk is spread over two Slavonian counties: Požega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Podravina. Since big part of Slavonia region (easternmost Croatian region) is flat, Papuk mountain is a place where finally somewhere you can enjoy mountain hiking or cycling more than 100 km of marked bicycle trails. Papuk Nature Park maybe is not a national level park but certainly is well-preserved and presented to public. In 2007 for the first time Papuk was licensed as a Geopark by UNESCO. Besides natural wanders Papuk is home for stone-age artifacts and localities from 1st century BC. Dating back to middle ages in the Papuk mountain area you can see 7 fortifications or castles, where Ružica grad is the most beautiful and most preserved.

Numerous water springs and good road connection from bigger cities and hotels makes Papuk Nature Park perfect for mountain vacation. Both wintertime and summertime are good to visit Papuk - winter to enjoy snowy magic moments (although there are no officially made ski paths) and summer to enjoy shadow made by dense forest and perfect spot to hide from summer heat. More than 90% of park’s surface is covered with forest – mostly beech forest.

Additional info: Papuk Nature Park is easy approachable whether you are coming from Našice, Požega or Virovitica or even from Slovenia or Bosnia and Herzegovina – by car it’s easy to get there. Closest airport is one in Osijek. Price list and rules are available on the park’s webpage.