Croatia JuVlai · CC BY-SA 2.0
The cut
247 metres, to scale.
A slice through Mala Paklenica where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
247m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
12.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
32°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
12km
Length
Rim to floor
9 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 31 °C on the floor, against 23 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and from September to October. The rim freezes at night from December to March. The wettest months are in November.
- 8°-1°Jan
- 9°0°Feb
- 13°4°Mar
- 18°10°Apr
- 23°14°May
- 28°19°Jun
- 31°22°Jul
- 31°23°Aug
- 25°16°Sep
- 20°11°Oct
- 14°6°Nov
- 9°0°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in the Velebit Mountains in Croatia
Mala Paklenica is a canyon in Croatia, cut by the Mala Paklenica river. The relief model measures 247 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,340 m to the higher one. It runs for 12 km. Rim to rim it is 13 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Paklenica.
Getting there.
- Starigradnearest town · 5.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,630 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.6 km from the floor
- Zadar Airport (ZAD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 25 km in a straight lineCar hire at ZAD airport (Zadar)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May and from September to Octoberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 9viewpoints within 5 kmAnića Kuk and 8 more
- 23marked hiking routes within 4 kmAnića kuk, istočni prilaz, 825 Mala Paklenica - Martinovo Mirilo, Kanjon Velika Paklenica and 20 more
- 4climbing crags within 3 kmVeliki Ćuk, Kuk od Skradelin, Zub od Manite peći and 1 more
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 16caves within 3 km
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 25information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 3bus stops within 2 km
- 18campsites within 8 kmMinicamp Michael, Paklenica, Paklenica National Park and 15 more
- 91hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMichael, Ramića Dvori, Pension Neven and 88 more
- 10restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Starigrad5.9 km in a straight line
- Jesenice8.5 km in a straight line
- Posedarje9.0 km in a straight line
- Novigrad12 km in a straight line
- Ražanac13 km in a straight line
- Pridraga16 km in a straight line
- Poličnik16 km in a straight line
- Obrovac17 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Mala Paklenica.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas18 mountains within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 8 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 28 | 31 | 31 | 25 | 20 | 14 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | -1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 0 |
| Night · rim | -7 | -7 | -4 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 2 | -2 | -6 |
| Rain (mm) | 99 | 100 | 86 | 83 | 90 | 70 | 53 | 68 | 124 | 118 | 144 | 118 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.5 | 3.3 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 7.8 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 9.3 | 6.4 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | -1 | -7 | 99 | 2.5 |
| Feb | 9 | 0 | -7 | 100 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 13 | 4 | -4 | 86 | 5.0 |
| Apr | 18 | 10 | 0 | 83 | 6.5 |
| May | 23 | 14 | 4 | 90 | 7.8 |
| Jun | 28 | 19 | 9 | 70 | 9.6 |
| Jul | 31 | 22 | 11 | 53 | 10.5 |
| Aug | 31 | 23 | 11 | 68 | 9.3 |
| Sep | 25 | 16 | 6 | 124 | 6.4 |
| Oct | 20 | 11 | 2 | 118 | 4.6 |
| Nov | 14 | 6 | -2 | 144 | 2.7 |
| Dec | 9 | 0 | -6 | 118 | 2.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (0 m) and the rim (1,340 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 17% | 49% | 59% | 28% | 64% | 124% | 73% | 147% | 111% | 258% | 37% | 192% |
| 2021 | 206% | 50% | 42% | 105% | 71% | 18% | 132% | 82% | 54% | 85% | 149% | 143% |
| 2022 | 46% | 58% | 38% | 101% | 69% | 56% | 59% | 57% | 139% | 17% | 151% | 186% |
| 2023 | 172% | 78% | 96% | 128% | 217% | 136% | 122% | 180% | 56% | 97% | 179% | 89% |
| 2024 | 93% | 72% | 184% | 67% | 117% | 127% | 106% | 65% | 208% | 118% | 73% | 94% |
| 2025 | 68% | 87% | 155% | 65% | 125% | 24% | 146% | 99% | 67% | 80% | 94% | 49% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Mala Paklenica
Croatia
- 247 mDepth
- 13 kmRim to rim
- 12 kmLength
- 32°Steepest wall
Grebenska Klisura
Bosnia and Herzegovina · 134 km
- 306 mDepth
- 1.3 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q26224729) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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