Window on Niksic

The start of the trail, at an altitude of 800 m, is located at the northern end of the overflow car park near the Ostrog Upper Monastery. It climbs northwards fairly gently through forest and it takes about one and a half hours to get to the peak of Ostroske grede – Uroseva glavica at 1,154 m and the whole hike was 9 km there and back. The scenery on the way up is very dominated by limestone rocks and bushes overlooking the Zeta Valley, but there is a wide view including Glava Zete, crisscrossed by winding, thin roads. From the top, one can see Niksic Plain to the north-west and the Moraca Mountains and beyond to the north-east. One of the easiest hikes.

This climb was definitely the highlight of my mountaineering year! As with the climbs of Trnovački Durmitor and Vrsta earlier documented on this blog, we started from the village of Ćalasani, accessed from a left turn after crossing the Piva hydroelectric dam from Plužine, through Mratinje, as far as you can get by road. I have to emphasise at the outset that this walk is almost completely uphill all the way until the peak of Maglić, but has a wonderful range of different terrain – woodland, which is incredible during the mid-to-late autumn, then bare rocks, then grass, and you are rewarded with great views of Lake Trnovac. The time estimates on the signposts do not include breaks! The GPS data from my phone informs me that, while the journey to the peak took us just over 3 hours not counting breaks, it was more like 6 hours including breaks. Given the fact that the elevation gain is from 985m to 2,336m, i.e. lots, this is not surprising. Overall, we took over 11 hours fo...

 This canyon walk is a good summertime walk because about half of it is through woodland. There is room to park on the road from the village of Nedajno towards Mala Crna Gora, at the bottom of the canyon, where there is a mountain lodge, where during the summer there is often a park ranger issuing tickets for Durmitor National Park (and perhaps charging for parking), although he was actually at the lodge by Lake Škrka (the other end of the canyon) when we walked. There is also a spring here where you can fill up with cold water. The walk starts from Lake Sušica, leading along its west shore (the eastern side is just rocks, and is hard on the ankles) and then along the canyon, mainly keeping the River Sušica on the left side. During the summer, this river largely dries up (presumably the reason for the river’s name). There is one large clearing that is full of nettles, but this seems now to be cleared during the tourist months, so long trousers are no longer essential f...

Although Gornja Bijela is accessible by road from the main road from Nikšić to Žabljak near the village of Kruševice, where there is a turn on the right as you head northwards, there is a pleasant walk also from the Krnovo Plain from the last of the windmills along this valley, which leads westwards where there is a break in the long line of mountains. The trail leads downwards along a stream, largely surrounded by trees. The road comes out onto the left side of a valley which points towards Šavnik. From here you need to find a path which continues downhill, rather than along the road which follows the contours of the valley. The path goes past a couple of houses, and follows a stream, eventually coming out onto the asphalt road mentioned earlier. Here your ears can lead you to the River Bijela, and follow this upstream to where the waterfall is. This is a beautiful spot, and as the summer goes on the flows slightly diminishes. The return trip is almost completely uphill.

The village of Stabna is accessible from Plužine along an asphalt road which hugs the western leg of Lake Piva. There is a left turn which further west and upwards, until a sharp dogleg takes you up towards Stabna. There are signposts to the end of the road, which eventually stops being asphalt when you take a left fork. The end of the road is marked by a chain across the path preventing further progress. The trail is marked from here all the way up to the two lakes, firstly Small Stabna Lake and then Large Stabna Lake. This is almost all in the woods, with the exception for around the two lakes. Take care at the far end of the small lake, where there are lots of boulders and a stream flows into the lake, as snakes bask here during the summer and frequently cross the trail. The larger lake is more frequented by frogs than snakes and makes an excellent spot for lunch. We decided to head right in the direction of Mt. Bioc, and after a climb of about 50 metres there is a spr...

Bare Bojovića can be accessed by road from April, as soon as the snow melts along the road. The road is signposted from a left turn on the Nikšić-Župa road uphill towards the Zagrad quarry, following the signposting toward Kapetanovo jezero. Otherwise if the snow has not melted and has not been cleared, as was the case with us, you have to wade through the snow for two hours to the Kponjsko Plain around Mt Borovnik, before you stand opposite Mt Žurim. Bare Bojovića is so-named because of all the water that pools in the area – there are several streams, but there is also a lot of boggy land there, especially during the spring. My favourite feature of Bare Bojovića is the impressive waterfall, which can be found by following the most powerful stream westwards from the turn-off to Kapetanovo Lake.