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Via Dinarica BH-W-06 Prenj Mountain

Select · 8 reviews · Mountain Hike · Bosnia and Herzegovina

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terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung

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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
/ Hiker in Zakantar area
Photo: Elma Okić, CC BY, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
/ Otis 2093 m
Photo: Elma Okić, CC BY, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
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Photo: Elma Okić, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
/ View on Otiš (left) and Zelena glava on the right
Photo: Olja Latinovic, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung
/ View on Otiš (left) and Zelena glava on the right
Photo: Adnan Bubalo, terra-dinarica-tourenerfassung

Thomas Furter
on the December 05, 2020

Beautiful Prenj mountains and trails. We started the steep ...

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This is an epic hike over one of the most attractive mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prenj is an adventure including ascents to high peaks and amazing karst scenery.

difficult

36 km

16:12 h

2,929 m

2,061 m

This trail crosses Prenj from West to South.

This trail crosses Prenj from West to South. From the city of Jablanica, pass over local hills to the village of Ravna and follow the trail ending on an exposed ridge with great views on Cetina rock face – more than 1000 m high. It continues to a green mountain pass Medjuprenje where there are two mountain huts (one is always open). It continues towards Lucine valley, but turns East over Zakantar, a huge karst plateau and a natural habitat of the endemic Prenj salamander (seen only during the night and rainy weather). Zakantar will end below the amazing Tisovica valley which ends on the slopes of Prenj's highest peaks – Zelena Glava. Half an hour from Tisovica there is another mountain hut called Vrutak. The trail leads across Zelena Glava ( 2155m) and Otis summit ( 2093m), and continues to another valley and further to Bijele Vode ( White waters) where you will find another mountain hut and an old shepherd hut (Katun) which serves as a shelter. From BIjele Vode, the trail descends down towards Ruiste settlement and recreation area. Ruiste is a popular destination for Mostar citizens. There you will find two other mountain lodges, a hotel and a small ski center. From here you can get a lift to Mostar, call a taxi or continue towards Boracko lake.

Author’s recommendation

Contact local guides for a great experience. There are many places along the trail worth seeing.

Author

Via Dinarica BiH

Updated: April 18, 2018

Difficulty

difficult

Technique

Stamina

Experience

Landscape

Risk potential

Highest point

Zelena Glava, 2,155 m

Lowest point

Jablanica, 192 m

Best time of year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Exposition / cardinal direction

Rest Stop

Mountain lodge “Adnan Krilić”, Bijele Vode Prenj
Mountain Lodge Rujište

Safety information

Some areas of Prenj are still suspected of landmines. This trail is safe; however, it crosses one suspected area of 500 m in length after leaving the road (over the meadow). The trail (and around it) is clear and safe, but you should not wonder around behind the marking signs. If you don't feel comfortable with this, stay on the road until you join the trail again.

Also there are a couple of other places (Zakantar spring and close by Vrutak hut) where landmines are suspected, but the area is cearly marked. Just respect these signs!

Watch for snakes and mind your steps because the terrain is very rocky.

Waether on Prenj is quite unpredictable. It is not uncommon that it snows during the summer and the temperature drops below zero.

121 - Call for Rescue. Also note that part of the mountain are not covered with mobile phone signal.

Tips, hints and links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwOoreIrAWc

Start

Jablanica city, after the Bridge on Neretva (191 m)

Coordinates:

43.652450, 17.765087

DMS

43°39'08.8"N 17°45'54.3"E

UTM

33T 722982 4836988

w3w

///emperors.deed.paradoxical

Destination

Ruiste

Turn-by-turn directions

Cross the road in Ravna and look for the trail signs leading up to the woods. After joining the trail going to Cetina from Medjuprenje, turn left to take a break at the huts or continue towards Cetina and Greda to the left. On Greda (pass) go right. You'll find a spring at the bottom of the scree slope to the right beneath a rock when descending down towards Lucine. Past the newly built shelter in Lucine, turn left (east). At the next crossing towards Lupoglav summit, you remain on the trail (left, straight). Before the main crossing in Tisovica (you can see signage pole from distance) you'll join a trail going towards Vrutak, so go right there. The trail climbs up to Podotis and close to its highest point there is a crossing where you should go right. The trail to Zelena Glava and Otis will climb to the right and return the same way. If you don't want to climb Zelena Glava, continue straight (south). Keep straight all the way to Bijele Vode and beyond. After a couple kilometers on the old truck road in the woods you can turn to the left over a small meadow, but you can remain on the road as well as it will lead you to the same point. At the ruin look for trail blazings again, and follow it all the way to Ruiste. When you reach the main road again go left.

Note

all notes on protected areas

Public transport

Several bus lines go through Jablanica to Mostar and Sarajevo direction.

Getting there

From the centre of Jablanica walk over the bridge and through the tunnel. The trail starts on the left side after the small bridge.

Parking

At the trailhead or in Jablanica city.

Coordinates

43.652450, 17.765087

DMS

43°39'08.8"N 17°45'54.3"E

UTM

33T 722982 4836988

w3w

///emperors.deed.paradoxical

Arrival by train, car, foot or bike

Book recommendation by the author

Only in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

Author’s map recommendations

http://www.libricon.hr/Prenj---karta-1--40-0000_b280.aspx

Equipment

Good boots are a must. Protect yourself from the sun. Though many people drink regularly from the Prenj springs, the usage of water filters on small springs is recommended.

Similar routes nearby

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Reviews

4.9

(8)

Thomas Furter

December 05, 2020 · Community

Beautiful Prenj mountains and trails. We started the steep uphill in Ravna. In Ravna we recommend to stay overnight at Cafe Bela/Via Dinarica Guesthouse. The hosts are so lovely and helpful. Be careful of the two gpx-deviations, if you fail the second one you got into a mine area! We spent the night in the mountain hut Jezerce (about 45min off the VD trail). There's a spring down on the lake close to the hut. In Rujiste we recommend the Motel Snježna kuća, which has nice rooms and excellent food.

Completed this Route on October 01, 2020

Comment

Liam Grace

October 01, 2019 · Community

We hiked this section in August. Pull up from Jablanica was tough, its definitely worth staying at the campsite and starting from Ravna before attempting the climb to Meduprenje. Fill up on water here, most of the springs were dry even after heavy rain a few days earlier. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING POINT. We followed the trail after this the following day, and were aiming to stay in the Vrutak Mountain Hut. At roughly N43deg, 33' 51.1, E17deg 53' 13.1, the markers lead off down into the valley, away from where the GPS trail is directing you to go, straight across towards the hut. We decided to follow the GPS as it was leading in the direction we wanted to go and meant we wouldn't lose altitude going down into the valley. After covering some very difficult ground we eventually made it back onto the track, only to discover that we had walked within 50m of a marked minefield. We were annoyed at ourselves for almost ending up there but at the same time we did follow the laid down GPS path, which had up until then been more or less bang on the route. This danger area is noted in Tim Clancy’s Brandt Guide to the Via Dinarica but not on the website or app. Annoyingly there are plenty of warnings about the minefield after the hut on the way up to Zelena Glava. The GPS trail urgently needs to be updated in this section. STICK TO THE MARKED PATH AT ALL TIMES ON PRENJ MOUNTAIN. It’s a very tough but rewarding section of the Via Dinarica, worth doing for the view on top of Zelena Glava alone. Just be careful when you’re up there.

Completed this Route on August 17, 2019

Comment

Miriam Maeder

August 02, 2019 · Community

Beautiful landscape and well indicated trail. However, except for the water tank at the first hut when starting in Jablanica there were no other water sources until reaching Biele Vode. We did the hike in July and slept in a tent, which was totally fine concerning the temperatures.

Comment

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Difficulty

difficult

Distance

36 km

Duration

16:12 h

Ascent

2,929 m

Descent

2,061 m

Multi-stage route Scenic Geological highlights Botanical highlights Faunistic highlights Summit route Point to Point Exposed sections

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