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| Ucka   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Istra peninsula, Croatia, Europe Lat/Lon: 45.28830°N / 14.20500°E Activities: Hiking, Sport Climbing Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter Elevation: 4573 ft / 1394 m | Page By: Vid Pogachnik Created/Edited: Jun 25, 2004 / Aug 27, 2006 Object ID: 152755 Hits: 4487 Loading... Page Score: 89.42% - 16 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
What's New On This Page? September 26th, 2005 - The Sisol chapter added,
Overview
The name is pronounced Uchka.
The Dinarides, stretching across Balkan peninsula, are not very high on their NW end. Where Eastern Alps finish and Balkan begins, landscape is hilly, but still some summits deserve to be called mountains, especially because they often rise from planes with low altitude or even from the sea level. Istra peninsula, the biggest one in Adriatic, is divided from the continent with one such streak of mountains, stretching in a NW-SE direction, and when reaching Kvarner bay, continuing along the whole eastern Istra towards south. The highest summit of these mountains is Ucka, the landmark of Kvarner bay.
Ucka can be best considered as a massif, although the most remarkable part is only its highest part. The mountain range is running along the Kvarner bay in a north-south direction. On north, the massif of Ucka starts on Poklon saddle, 922m. A few kilometers towards south the highest summit already stands. Its name is Vojak, 1394m. Then the range continues over Suhi vrh (Dry Peak), 1332m (where tho core part of Ucka ends) to Perun, 881m, Brgud, 907m, Kremenjak, 827m, Sikovac, 780m, Sisol, 835m, Bukovo, 711m to Vrlic, 607m, after which the range ends in Plomin bay.
Eastern slopes of Ucka, facing towards Kvarner bay, are covered with dense forests. Although Kvarner is very sunny, this part of the mountain gets a lot of rain, understandable for a 1400m high barrier rising just from the sea. The eastern part is dry and grassy, but its slopes are also high - 1000 meters to the plane of Boljunsko polje.
On Kvarner coast, below Ucka, famous tourist resorts are situated. The riviera begins after the big city of Rijeka. First the famous Opatija comes with its many luxurous hotels. Then Icici, with a nice marina, Lovran and Moscenicka draga. On the inner side of Ucka, just below its summit there are two small villages: Vela (Big) Ucka, 920m and Mala (Small) Ucka, 1000m. Down on Boljunsko polje there are several more or less abandoned villages.
The summit of Ucka is interesting first of all because of grandiose panorama. Its most beautiful part is of course Kvarner bay with its many islands. The panorama of Kvarner bay (area around Rijeka) includes, besides sea and coastal towns with harbours, also the magnificient mountain background with Obruc, Snjeznik, Risnjak and later coastal range leading to Velebit. On the other side the whole Istra peninsula lies below our feet. In distance, if visibility is very good, Alps and Apenines can be seen.
Secondly Ucka is a nice hiking goal. Many trails reach the summit from all sides. Although the mountain looks humble it hides also one beautiful climbing region - Vranjska draga (canyon). And finally, the mountain can also be the objective of many other, non-mountaineering interests: cycling, paragliding, nature observing, speleology etc. In conclusion: if you are spending holidays in Istra, why not visit on your way there or back also Ucka?
Crags and Areas For ClimbingVranjska draga (canyon) is a natural pearl. It is situated on the NW part of Ucka - just below the entry of the road into the Ucka tunnel (on the inlands side). While once the canyon obviously had water, today it is dry - the only one thing missing for the perfect paradise. The canyon starts on the altitude of some 700m, descending down to Boljunsko polje (plane) on 200m. Walls are also appropriate for climbing, but the biggest attraction are limestone towers, some of them being thin as spaghetti and really picturesque. Climbing routes (they are of various difficulties) are being only recently discovered. So to summarize: In this climbing area you will be alone, rock is fine and warm, appropriate for spring and autumn (also in winter if there's no wind), while in summer ascends could be very hot.
The list of routes which are protected by bolts, and their difficulty is posted in English on this web site.
Zijavica is another area, situated on the other, coastal side of Ucka. The crag is close to the small tourist town Moscenicka Draga, and has some two dozens of routes, rated from 4c to 7c. The topo is here.
The Karst Edge (Kraski rob) is a limestone step, stretching from Trieste on NW to Ucka on SE. This is the step (above it is the mountain range, forming the border of Istra), where limestone changes to flysh, which is then forming the central part of Istra. Above Trieste and in Slovenia in the Cast Edge walls there are very popular climbing regions (Glinscica, Osp, Misja pec, Crni Kal etc.). For the Croatian part I am not familliar, if there are any popular routes - but the landscape and possibilities seem the same. The above described Vranjska draga is not a part of Carst Edge, although limestone walls look similar.
The appropriate guidebook for Istra climbing resorts is: J. Skok, E. Svab, D. Perhat: Plezalisca brez meja. Sidarta, 2003. The guidebook deals with Istra and Karst edge climbing resorts in three countries: Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. The guidebook is in 4 languages: Slovenian, Italian, German and English. (See also here).
Sisol  Kvarner bay from the ridge of Sisol
It's a mountain of it's own, Sisol, 835m. But being part of the same massif, it is also correct to be represented on this page.
It is a beautiful hiking goal. Being more than 500m lower than the top of Ucka it still enables a great panorama over Kvarner bay. Or even more so, especially on a hazy day, when from a higher altitude hardly any detail can be seen.
If we hike up from the Plomin or a panoramic point SE of this beautiful old town, paths bring us on a grassy plateau. The marked path continues northwards all the way on the E side of the grassy ridge and when reaching the rocky fore-summit of Sis it climbs over few rocks up. The other usual route to Sisol is from the E, from the picturesque Brsec town. From there the marked path ascends on the main ridge N of Sisol, from where we follow the rocky main ridge towards the S and in less than 30 min we reach the highest point. Both these tours can be combined in a nice round tour (possibly with a bike connection).
From Plomin (or panoramic point SE of it) over Sisol to the very summit of Ucka a marked path goes. representing one of the most interesting and panoramic hikes in Istra.
Getting There  Chimneys of old Istria map
From Rijeka towards the centre of Istra a modern road goes. While the old road climbs the Poklon saddle, the new one goes through the tunnel on an altitude of around 500m. From NW, say from Trieste or Koper, Ucka can be reached by a road via Buzet. And from south, from Pula or other tourist resorts on the coast of Istra, Ucka can be reached by a modern road via Pazin. From Poklon saddle a rather good road climbs to the very summit of Ucka.
And how to reach the old road over Ucka? From Rijeka side (east): through Matulji and Veprinac, from Istra side (west) exit at west portal of Ucka tunnel from main to local road in upward direction.
Mountain paths: A marked path ascends the summit from Poklon saddle. Many marked paths go up from Kvarner tourist resorts: They start on the sea level or higher - in Lovran, Lovranska draga (400m), Medveja, Moscenicka draga. Besides marked paths also many old shephard and peasant paths climb up, but many of them are probably in a bad shape. For any path from the sea level you will need some 4 hours or more to rech the summit. From inlands a marked path climbs from the Mala Ucka village, 1000m.
Old Towns and Villages of Istra  Chimneys of old Krsan - Ucka is behind
If you want to explore Istra, there are endless possibilities for panoramic driving or cycling. The landscape is like in Tuscany or Umbria (although less urban), towns and villages have rich heritage and are very picturesque. As this is a mountaineering site I'll post just a few sample pictures.
Red TapeThe whole region is protected as a natural parc. If interested, here is its web page.
For the tunnel of Ucka you need to pay toll, while the old road from both sides and to the summit is toll free.
When To ClimbUcka can be climbed all the year, the best time is when visibility is good.
CampingAlthough you probably will not sleep on the mountain there's a mountain hut on Poklon saddle. It has 14 beds, and is the propriety of Opatija Mountaineering Club. For information call Mrs. Marica Tomasko, tel. (051) 712-785.
Mountain ConditionsFor weather see Croatia at WeatherOnline.
Images
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