ACT Croatia track
Croatia – Located in the heart of Europe with landscapes that whisper tales of ancient beauty. ACT Croatia offers you a five-day 835km adventure track that travels from Pula in Istria to the beautiful Island of Hvar.
The route to the endpoint on the island of Hvar leads through the forgotten hinterlands of Croatia, offering not only additional adrenaline on tracks that safely cross through old and still active minefields,a sad reminder of a war past that is not that far back, but also breathtaking and mesmerizing scenery, including mountain ridges, waterfalls, and forests that served as a backdrop for the famous Winnetou films. If you choose the ACT Croatia, you will ride incredible gravel roads, admire bizarre rock formations, enjoy excellent food, visit historical sites, cross minefields, survive falls on challenging rocky and gravel tracks, magnificent mountain scenery sometimes with the mediterranean sea on the background, and occasionally endure unbearable heat. All this makes the ACT Croatia an unforgettable experience and an adventure by its own right..
OFF-ROAD PERCENTAGE
EXPERTIZE LEVEL
Medium-High
LENGTH
835 km
TRACK TYPE
Tarmac, Gravel, Rocks, mud
RECOMMENDED DURATION
5 days
ACCOMODATION
Camping, B&B and small Hotels
LANGUAGE
Croatia
-
ACT Croatia Jersey NEW fit 2024 Collection
59,99 €incl. VAT
plus Shipping Costs
Delivery time: 5-6 Working Days
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
ACT Riding T-Shirt Croatia NEW 2024
39,99 €incl. VAT
plus Shipping Costs
Delivery time: 5-6 Working Days
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
DAY 1
PULA
START
RIJEKA
END
220 km
Length
EASY
Difficulty
The official starting point is at the famous Cape Kamenjak,
to reach it you need to enter and cross an area that is a designated landscape reserve. This part of the peninsula offers an exceptional variety of plants and plenty of tracks and interesting places for hikers. Although the park, marked by a barrier, officially opens at 9:00 AM, with proper advance notification and negotiation, we were fortunate to pay the entrance fee and reach the cape earlier, enjoying the solitude of the sunrise.
Throughout the day, the route to the Ucka Nature Park offers spectacular views of the sea. In the second half of the day is where winding gravel roads will go hand in hand with curvy tarmac bits and ever changing elevation. Although some gravel paths are a bit washed out, the first day doesn’t pose too much of a technical challenge.
The tracks of this initial day are a fairly easy ride, taking you on a tour through the backcountry of Istria. In our concept, and especially taking into consideration the challenges of the upcoming stages, we’ve decided to keep it relatively easy on the first part. Enabling a smooth start of the adventure and to get acquainted with riding, terrain and country.
It will be the longest stage of the ACT in Croatia and even if the tracks offers a good pace, you should plan for an early start as well. With 220km and an off-road percentage of 55%, day 1 can easily become a long day on the bike, even if this stage is rated easy in terms of difficulty.
Bottomline, crossing the backcountry of Istria, starting in Pula and leading towards Rijeka will give you a good start and a brief outlook of what more is just to come.
Hotel & Food
Residence del Mar Emotion,Kuje bb – 52204 Ližnjan
Kukuriku d.o.o. Trg M.Laginje 1/A, HR – 51 215 Kastav
DAY 2
Rijeka
START
Karlobag
END
185 km
Length
Easy
Difficulty
The second day kicks off with a spectacular ascent into the mountains, providing magnificent panoramas,
traversing enchanted forests, and ending with challenging gravel sections through stunning, surreal rock landscapes. Day 2 is remote and far off the grid for the most time, therefore, refueling and getting some water for the ride is mandatory.
When you exit the village after crossing the A7, you will enter a road that would not look like the first choice to enter a great adventure. Nevertheless, as soon as you’re climbing up, the rewards pop up in front of your wheels. Forgotten, not maintained for years and in bad condition, the road surface disappears more and more, uncovering beautiful gravel tracks with the island of Krk just a stone’s throw away.
After the initial ascent, a stark contrast to the incredibly beautiful panorama is the sight of destroyed bunker facilities. Even though the war in former Yugoslavia was 30 years ago, ruins and warning signs continually remind us of those terrible times.
Moving more into the remote, wide gravel roads alternate with asphalted single-track roads, preventing any sense of routine and keeping you alert and engaged with your riding. Given the scorching heat that you face in summer, the faster road sections come in handy to cool you down.
Many of the rough gravel stretches are manageable, but there are sections where deep gravel causes the bikes to sway, requiring extra caution. A winding asphalt stretch through an enchanted forest offers a bit of refreshment for the heated and exhausted bodies in the afternoon.
As the day concludes, you will traverse a surreal rock landscape on a sparsely traveled gravel road through the barren mountain terrain. This is for sure a tempting scenario to ride at high speeds. Important to keep it rubber down, not to get too enthusiastic, and enjoy the fascinating views at the track’s endpoint. A steep descent takes you back to the valley, where you`ll meet the asphalt road again.
Depending on where you start in the area of Rijeka and where you’ll stay near Karlobag at the end of day 2, this stage covers around 185 kilometers with 65% of off-road. The views, the tracks and the riding are just exceptional. Be prepared for the long and deep gravel tracks that require some confidence on the bike but still grading this day as one of the most easy ones.
Hotel & Food
DAY 3
Karlobag
START
Knin
END
185 km
Length
Moderate- Difficult
Difficulty
As if of a waking call, this stage begins with a real challenge: a small gravel path that leads directly through a swamp and meadow area.
Along the way, there are signs and warning signs because this region has many unmapped minefields. So, it’s better not to get creative, not to fall, and mandatory: always stay on the path.
Immediately after the swamps, we enter “Winnetou Land.” Via lonely gravel paths, we reach the filming locations of the famous Karl May movies. Although the locations are now well-known and partly touristically developed, a few hundred meters of gravel road are often enough to be almost alone on the way. However, the routes are sometimes challenging. Steep ascents and descents, a lot of loose gravel combined with large stones make riding a real challenge. All of this happens usually at summer temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celsius in the shade – if there were any shade in these mountains.
With passing the Pierre Brice Memorial you can choose to continue on the shorter, more easy alternative track that we will offer to descend into the valley. Once you’re down in the valley, a small road brings you in a deep canyon offering a well deserved refreshment. A cascade of waterfalls, almost like painted with a restaurant right beside it, is almost a must for a stop. A small and adventurous bridge, a bit more hidden in the back is a good opportunity to cross the river and discover some more places at the other side.
The other option at the Memorial is to go back a couple of kilometers and to enter a much more challenging track that will take you up into a high mountain cross. Challenging but rewarding, this is the option chosen for the shooting of the ACT Croatia video. The scenario is beautiful and the tracks offer you different challenges and can make your day more adventurous. At the end, you will also go into the canyon for the refreshment.
Day 3 rated medium to hard, especially if you want to ascend into the mountains further more like we did, and comes with around 185 km a 55% of off-road to cover.
Be respectful and cautious when crossing the mine areas south east of Gospitsch in the morning, soak in the impressions in the mountains and find your time to regain some energy, especially on hot days. Arriving in the city Knin, you will easily find a place to stay and some good food.
Hotel & Food
DAY 4
Knin
START
Split
END
130 km
Length
hard
Difficulty
The penultimate day through the Croatian hinterland starts with a track over spectacular and lonely plateaus.
Soon after starting you are back on the track, you get welcomed into the day by a beautiful waterfall, only a minute away from where the first off-road section starts. Riding smooth tracks along the river is a good warmup for the more challenging parts later on. The wide open planes at the foothills of the Dinara mountains east of you are offer some space to breathe the adventure and to soak in all the impressions.
After leaving the planes, you will slowly approach the point where you will have to make an important decision. Imagine standing at a crossroads, the path diverging into two distinct directions. On one side, there’s the track that done by the ACT Croatia movie group, leading deeper into the remote valley experiencing the soft glow of grassy hills or zig zagging the valleys below the Dinara mountains,facing rough natured tracks where loose rocks go hand in hand with climbing up and going down again. On the other side, a narrow, winding trail beckons with a hint of adventure. This path is labeled “The Unknown,” where risks and rewards are balanced on your decisions. It’s a route full of uncertainties, leading you up high into the mountains, surrounded by yet not fully cleared minefields again, with no prospect of cell phone coverage for hours.
After this, you will be finding yourselves in the middle of the forest and more towards the end of this day, gravel interchanges with sand in most places. But with riding on the loose stuff for days now, also you should be well prepared if a deep patch catches you by surprise.
Even-though Day 4 is a relatively short track in order to reach one of the ferries in Split later on, it’s a track fully packed of highlights that often are just uncovered from a riders perspective. And with the two long alternative tracks, you could easily spend an extra day on this stage before continuing to the Island of Hvar for the final stretch of the ACT Croatia. You should plan for taking the ferry in Split at the end of the day so that you have a good night rest before facing on the last day of this adventure.
As a summary, Day 4 of the adventure country tracks Croatia will offer two different alternative tracks, one going up into the rugged mountains where caution is advised, and one leading through the valleys below. Both averaging around 70% of off-road that is rated hard due to the challenges that pop up in front you by surprise from time to time. Even with a distance in between 130 to 160 kilometers you should plan enough time for this stage.
Hotel & Food
Hotel Hvar D.o.o.
Jelsa 893, 21465 Jelsa
DAY 5
Hvar Island
START
Hvar Island
END
115 km
Length
Moderate
Difficulty
Hvar Island, one of the sunniest spots in Europe, boasting over 2,700 hours of sunshine per year, covers an area of approximately 297 square kilometers.
The tracks in the beginning on the westside of the island are often narrow, overgrown by spiky bushes and permeated by somewhat tricky to ride ruts.
Despite its relatively compact size, the island offers a rich diversity of landscapes, including lush vineyards, olive groves, pine forests, and a picturesque coastline. On this track, you will see it all.
The sudden views that open up along the track will often invite you for a stop and if you want to get a more elevated perspective, don’t miss out on going all the way up to Fort Napoleon overviewing the coast line and the old port of Hvar town. The entire island is crisscrossed by dry stone walls, and the scent of lavender fills the air.
The gravel here is more predictable and hard packed than on the days before, so you’re able to share some of our concentration enjoying the landscapes around you. You will also notice when riding the tracks that spiders and their webs are everywhere. Many times they are so big that they cross the track from one side to the other. Be careful in managing these situations as it may happen that while riding standing up on a off-road section, you get into a spider web and likely, you take the spider with you. Some of us experienced some spider bites and it was not a nice souvenir.
The island o Hvar and the Day 5 of ACT Croatia offer 115 exceptional kilometers that leads you explore the island from a lesser known perspective. A track with 70% of off-road in average that takes you from the beautiful coastlines through the midlands, crossing the entire Island from west to east.
Embedded in this beautiful scenery the ACT Croatia comes to an end by arriving at the lighthouse on the very eastern tip of the Island. Here you will reach the end of this track and you can relax by taking a bath into the blue Mediterranean waters just a few meters from the end point. You have reached the finish point of a trip that we hope will fuel your spirit of adventure. A couple of kilometers away you will find the ferry harbor that can take you to mainland again.
Hotel & Food
Hotel Hvar D.o.o.
Jelsa 893, 21465 Jelsa
For an overnight stay after the ferry journey and close to the airport, we opted for the following:
Hotel San Antonio
Grljevačka 30 HR-21312 Podstrana- Split
EN 
DE 
FR 
ES 
