Biogradsko Jezero

A glacial lake at 1,094 m on the Bjelasica massif, and the heart of Biogradska Gora national park. The lake is small — about 20 hectares — and is ringed by one of the last remaining tracts of primeval forest in Europe.

It has never been logged. Around 1,600 hectares of it were protected as a royal reserve in 1878 by Prince Nikola, and some of the beech, fir and maple are over 500 years old and reach 45 m. The park was formally established in 1952.

In northern Montenegro between Kolasin and Mojkovac, reached by a short road off the main E65. It is about 15 minutes from Kolasin and just over an hour from Podgorica. There is an entrance fee for the park.

Walk the level 3.5 km loop around the lake, which takes about an hour and needs no equipment. Rowing boats are for hire in summer, and marked trails climb from the lake onto Bjelasica, including the ascent of Crna Glava at 2,139 m.

Yes. There are cabins and a campsite by the lake, and katuns higher on the mountain take guests in summer. Kolasin, fifteen minutes away, has hotels and is the usual base outside the peak weeks.

Late spring for water levels and green, and October for the beech turning, which is what the park is best known for. July and August are busiest; the lake path can be crowded at midday, though it empties by evening.