This is the last waterfall on Krka River before it flows into the Adriatic Sea. Our quick stop for a sunset view two days earlier was just a short ways downstream from this waterfall. We started off near the top and made a clockwise loop on the trail around the waterfall. The Church of St. Nicholas was near the start.
Skradinski Buk has a number of cascading sections, each one quite beautiful.
I don't there's anywhere to see the entire thing. Although there were several old mills and other buildings around the falls, I didn’t they distracted much from the scene.
We slowly worked our way down after viewing each of the cascades and drops. At the bottom, we crossed the footbridge over the river to the base at the pool below the falls. Unlike Plitvice Lakes, swimming is permitted, and I had to take the opportunity to take a dip.
The water was quite cold and the current was surprisingly strong. It was hard to stop for a picture without getting swept downstream. I didn’t stay in long as it was too chilly, however. After drying off, we started heading back up the other side. It was more natural on this side with none of the mills or old buildings here. We saw beautiful travertine cliffs as we were heading up.
There was another really scenic waterfall along the way on a small tributary of Krka River.
Soon we got to probably the best view spot of Skradinski Buk – perched up on a cliff, the waterfall, footbridge, and old buildings made a beautiful scene.
And yet, even here, we could only see a portion of the entire waterfall. Continuing on, the boardwalk trails looped around past scenic little ponds and small drops, but nothing else too big. There was one area with a huge number of wildflowers blooming.
Finishing up the loop, we made a quick stop at the old mill.
We then headed back to the bus to continue exploring the park. Driving north, we made a quick stop to view the Visovak Island, containing a 14th monastery.
The island is not completely natural – the monks added rocks over the years to increase the size of the island. The views here of the island, monastery, and Krka river were great.
After a couple pictures, we continued on to Roški Slap. Here we had a traditional buffet lunch with bread, cheese, olives, and meat. We even had some local sherry and wine. After lunch we took some time to explore. First, we hiked the rather steep Niz Ploču trail up to a great overlook of the Krka River. Although steep and rocky, I stopped a couple times to enjoy the view and check out the chimney bellflower blooming along the trail.
In the distance, the river flowed between two mountains that almost looked like a wall that had been broken by the river.
Heading back down, we swung by the boat dock to see Roški Slap waterfall. The view wasn’t ideal from here; I think the only way to get a good view of this waterfall would be from a boat.
We swung by the gift shop and picked up a couple little bottles of sherry to take home. Then we got back in the bus and left the park en route to the historic town of Ŝibenik.
We stopped near the docks and followed Ernest toward the town square and the Cathedral of St. James, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ernest provided some history of this beautiful church, pointing out some of the beautiful architectural features. The building was unfortunately damaged in the war, but was being restored. We then took a quick walk through the inside of the cathedral to see the beautiful altar and interior.
Outside, I got a picture of many of the stone heads on the side of the building.
Then we headed up to the Medieval Garden of St. Lawrence Monastery. It's a very small garden, but quite scenic right in the old town of Ŝibenik.
Firethorn and other pretty flowers were blooming in the garden and a small cafe provided a spot to get a drink and relax.
After a few minutes, we headed back to the bus to head back to Split. It was a lovely drive along the coast between Ŝibenik and Split as we made out way back.
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