Rakov Škocjan - Nature reserve
The map of the park
A short cave passage connecting valleys
Bridge in the Zelska's cave
Inside Zelska's cave
Big natural bridge
Big natural bridge
Tkalca jama entrance
The path down to Zelska's cave
Small natural bridge
The valley of the Rak river The Rakov Škocjan Nature Reserve is probably the most famous karst area in Slovenia, showing most of the typical karst features. Most of the park is a limestone plateau with trees and without water. In this plateau, several deep valleys with a river at the bottom can be found. They are called Polje in Slovenian, a word adopted by the geologists for this kind of karst feature.
Slovenia is the type locale for Poljes. Polje means field, and we see why it is so: the plateau is dry, and only forest grows on this extreme conditions. The floor of the valleys is a fertile plain composed of river sediments, used for fields and meadows. The river is the Rak, after which the area is named.
The main sights of the park are Veliki naravni most (Big Natural Bridge) and Mali naravni most (Small Natural Bridge). Veliki naravni most is located at the western end of the valley. The road through the park, a single lane gravel road, crosses the bridge, but from the road this is almost invincible. The rather small opening is covered by a massive layer of limestone, and the bridge makes a rather massive impression.
Once through the bridge, the river Rak crosses another very small polje, and then enters a cave where it vanishes. The Mali naravni most is on the eastern end of the polje. This two natural bridges are obviously the last remains of a now destroyed cave. There are also several caves like Zelške jame. Public footpaths allow interesting walks through the park.
The cave is part of a huge cave system which already started to collapse. Several parts of the cave are valleys today, called Polje. Other, very short parts of the cave are called natural bridges. Some of the longer parts of the system connect the valleys and allow to follow the river to the next polje.
At the eastern end of the valleys, the true start of the Zelške jame cave system is closed by a iron gate. This part of the cave, a cave system of more than four kilometers length, may be visited on spelunking tours. The are two trips, one to the dry part of the cave, another to the river part done by boat. Professional caver equipment, including overall, helmet, headlight and boots are provided.
The accessibility of many sights depends on the water level, so it is a bad idea to visit this park after heavy rains or in spring.
Slovenia is the type locale for Poljes. Polje means field, and we see why it is so: the plateau is dry, and only forest grows on this extreme conditions. The floor of the valleys is a fertile plain composed of river sediments, used for fields and meadows. The river is the Rak, after which the area is named.
The main sights of the park are Veliki naravni most (Big Natural Bridge) and Mali naravni most (Small Natural Bridge). Veliki naravni most is located at the western end of the valley. The road through the park, a single lane gravel road, crosses the bridge, but from the road this is almost invincible. The rather small opening is covered by a massive layer of limestone, and the bridge makes a rather massive impression.
Once through the bridge, the river Rak crosses another very small polje, and then enters a cave where it vanishes. The Mali naravni most is on the eastern end of the polje. This two natural bridges are obviously the last remains of a now destroyed cave. There are also several caves like Zelške jame. Public footpaths allow interesting walks through the park.
Zelške jame is part of the Rakov Škocjan Nature Reserve. The cave is accessible by public footpaths, and it is possible to visit the first part of the cave and walk from one polje to another as one of the footpaths crosses the caves in between. This cave is fun to discover and shows many rare and interesting karst features. The speleothems are little, mostly of moonmilk.
The cave is part of a huge cave system which already started to collapse. Several parts of the cave are valleys today, called Polje. Other, very short parts of the cave are called natural bridges. Some of the longer parts of the system connect the valleys and allow to follow the river to the next polje.
At the eastern end of the valleys, the true start of the Zelške jame cave system is closed by a iron gate. This part of the cave, a cave system of more than four kilometers length, may be visited on spelunking tours. The are two trips, one to the dry part of the cave, another to the river part done by boat. Professional caver equipment, including overall, helmet, headlight and boots are provided.
The accessibility of many sights depends on the water level, so it is a bad idea to visit this park after heavy rains or in spring.
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6 comments:
I had been there, very nice bizare nature :-)
Excellent dives in the siphon there....
And the dry cave is beautiful too!
I haven't been there yet. Where did you find all these beautiful photos?
I found them somewhere on Internet. Google,pictures...
Igor, do you know something about Wild lake - a karst siphon lake which is situated about 2 km southern from town Idrija (Slovenia)?
Yes, I know something as I dived there. It is explored until 160 m by Luigi Casati - an Italian diver.
The lake is very small and 25 m deep, where the entrance of the "divjak" starts.
Will try to put together some info and post.
See you!
Good point, though sometimes it's hard to arrive to definite conclusions
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