Tagline

• Baške Oštarije (or "Oštarije" only) is a village on the local road Gospić-Karlobag, 21 km far from Gospić and 19 km far from Karlobag. Its altitude is 924 m.
• Oštarije is very important for mountaineers because its good accommodation facilities (mountaineering huts, hotel..) and easy approach to the particular summits of Central and Southern Velebit
• Oštarijska Vrata (927 m) is a pass 2 km far from Oštarije with beautiful view toward island Pag and sourounding islands and Adriatic sea

Read more: Baške Oštarije, Apprach and Acommodation - guide

• Bijele stijene
• Samarske stijene
• accommodation

Introduction

• Traditional approaches to Bijele Stijene and Samarske Stijene lead from the road Jasenak-Mrkopalj (called Begova Staza) or its branches.  The approach descriptions are mostly common because the starting points are very close to each other (a few kilometres only).
• The main starting point for the ascent to Bijele stijene is the parking place (1009 m) at the end of 1.7 km long branch of the road Mrkopalj-Jasenak. This place is accessible by car or by small buses. The hiking approach from Jasenak (the closest village accessible by public transport) leads there, too.
• The main starting point for ascent to Samarske stijene is "13th km" (1100 m) on the road Jasenak-Mrkopalj. This is about 13 km far from Mrkopalj and at the same distance from Jasenak. There is a branch toward Samarske stijene, but only a few hundred meters of this forest road is common with the trail to Ratkovo sklonište (Ratko's shelter). After that, the trail deviates on the left. The road continues toward the summit of the Samarske stijene but this approach is not described here.

Approaches:

• Traditional approach leads from Jasenak village (24 km from Ogulin). To Jasenak from Ogulin it is possible to come by local road Ogulin-Jezerane by following the signs for HOC Bjelolasica (Croatian Olympic Centre).
• By the public transport it is simple to reach Ogulin (Mrkopalj or Vrbovsko) only. There is a poor bus connection Ogulin-Jasenak. Attention: The road No 32 (GoogleMaps view, Aug 2008) is not asphalted between Vojni Tuk and Jasenak, but the road Ogulin-Jasenak is asphalted.

• Bijele Stijene
  • The starting point (parking) is accessible from Jasenak by car (10 km) or on foot (about 1h 50 min).
    • Signed hiking trail from Jasenak goes by road 2 km toward Jezerane and then on the right by unpaved road Jasenak-Mrkopalj. After a few hundred meters there is a hiking shortcut. From Jasenak to the starting point - about 1h 50 min [POLJAK]
    • by car: From Jasenak (without deviating to Vrelo village and HOC Bjelolasica continue toward Drežnica (Jezerane) about 2 km. After that, it is needed to deviate on the right to the unpaved road to Mrkopalj (and Begovo Razdolje) called Begova staza (Beg's trail). This part is common with the described hiking path. On that road there are branches to Bijele Stijene (after 6 km) and Samarske stijene (after 12 km).  The branch to Bijele stijene is 1,7 km long and the starting point (and parking) is at its end.
• Samarske stijene
  
  • The starting point for trip to Samarske stijene is placed on the same road. It is needed to continue right after Bijele stijene branch. After about 6 km (totally  13 from Jasenak) there is a crossing.
• The road approach to Bijele Stijene and Samarske Stijene from the west (Rijeka) comes from Mrkopalj (exit Delnice, highway A6), and from the south from Ogulin (exit Ogulin, highway A1) or Jezerane (exit Brinje, highway A1). 
  • From Mrkopalj to the branch to Samarske Stijene is about 13 km and to the branch toward Bijele Stijene is about 20 km. The road is mostly unpaved (after Tuk) but in some maps (Freytag & Berndt and Goggle Maps...) it is drawn as asphalted!
• Other approaches to Bijele Stijene and Samarske Stijene are described in literature

Map

{mosmap address='Jasenak,Croatia'|zoomType='Large'|key='AIzaSyCExjIhxTbuQRHdYAHq43_O7VgdxyYligg'}

Accommodation:

• Bijele stijene

• Mountain Shelter at Bijele Stijene
• The distance between the hut and the shelter is about 50 m only
• The shelter is always open
• The hut is opened in the summer season at weekends and it is partially supplied (with beverages). Additional information is available on supplied links. There is a cistern but the water is not drinkable (without sterilization).

• Samarske Stijene

• Ratko's Shelter, Samarske stijene

• Close to Bijele Stijene and Samarske Stijene:

• Mountain Shelter Jakob Mihelčić on Bjelolasica
• Mountain hut, Bijele stijene, Tuk (878 m)
• Mountain hut Janjčarica

• Another tourist facilities
  
  • HOC Bjelolasica
  • Hotel Jastreb in Begovo Razdolje
  • Bistro Planinski Raj, Begovo Razdolje
  • private accommodations in Tuk, Begovo Razdolje, Mrkopalj...
• Camping
  • -

• hiking
• accommodation
• Northern Velebit National Park

Approach

•  There are two main approaches to this part of North Velebit:
• From the continental side: from Otočac, the town accessible by highway A1, Zagreb -Split, exit Otočac. There is an asphalted road Otočac - Švica - Krasno - Oltari- Sveti Juraj.
• From the coastal side: from the Adriatic tourist road. The town Senj is the biggest place close to our starting point. There are asphalted branches to Mt Velebit from villages Sveti Juraj and Jablanac.

Read more: The North Velebit, Approach and Accomodation - guide