Municipality of Lokve: Cave, Forest and Lake

Lokvarsko jezero was created as a reservoir in the 1950s. Nature and culture come together in the Municipality of Lokve: the protected Golubinjak Park Forest, Špilja Lokvarka and trails with karst features sit alongside regional herbal liqueurs, a permanent exhibition and a traditional event. You can shape your stay around the landscape, the cave or local culture.

Water and forest

Activities at Lokvarsko jezero vary by season: swimming is possible in summer, while the lake is suitable for fishing year-round. Golubinjak is a protected park forest covering 51 hectares. The giant fir known as “Kraljica Šume” is estimated to be over 250 years old and 42 metres tall.

Cave and karst trails

Špilja Lokvarka has been protected as a geomorphological natural monument since 1961. The part explored to date is 1,179 metres long; the cave is 275 metres deep. These figures refer to different measurements: the length of the explored section and the depth of the cave. Of its six levels, the first four are open to visitors. Check the current visiting arrangements before your visit.

In Golubinjak, the 10.82-kilometre “Staza spilja” runs along roads and paths featuring numerous karst formations and decorative karst features. You can visit speleological sites along the route. For planning purposes, it is helpful to distinguish between the measurements: 10.82 kilometres refers to the route, while 1,179 metres is the length of the cave section explored to date.

Culture and herbal traditions

The “Muzej žaba” has been established in the KC “Picirk” building in Lokve. The traditional “Žabarska noć” has been held in Lokve since 1974. At the Kuća prirode “Kotač”, a permanent exhibition offers an insight into the history of the Lujzinska cesta. There is also another way to experience regional herbal traditions: you can taste indigenous gorica herbal liqueurs, visit the place where they are made and see the attic where mountain herbs and plants are dried for them.

Plan your visit and stay

If you are planning a guided walk in Golubinjak Park Forest, arrange it in advance by phone or email. Barbecue areas can be rented in the park forest; enquire about their availability in advance. If you would like to attend “Žabarska noć”, check the dates for your travel period.

This way, you can focus your search on the experiences that interest you most during your stay.

Kvarner Bay: the wider context

In the wider destination of Kvarner Bay, the Natura 2000 network in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County includes 111 sites. It covers nearly 75 percent of the county’s land area and 16 percent of its sea area. Also at county level, the cultural-tourism route Putovima Frankopana includes a total of 17 Frankopan castles and three religious sites.

Discover more destinations: Lokve, Municipality of Jelenje, Municipality of Vrbovsko, Municipality of Matulji, Municipality of Ravna Gora, Municipality of Mošćenička Draga, Municipality of Brod Moravice, Municipality of Crikvenica

Go to the wider travel overview: Kvarner Bay.