The rivers of northern Montenegro have cut deep canyons into the limestone. The most famous is the Tara canyon, one of the deepest in Europe, which is descended by rafting. The Piva canyon is driven through via tunnels, the main road to Kolašin leads through the Morača canyon, the Mrtvica is traversed on foot, and Nevidio only with a guide.
The Tara canyon, up to 1,300 metres deep, Piva with its 220-metre dam, Morača on the road to Kolašin, Mrtvica for walkers and Nevidio for canyoning: a guide to Montenegro's canyons.
Tara Canyon
The Tara has carved a canyon about 80 kilometres long and up to about 1,300 metres deep, one of the deepest in Europe. The canyon is part of Durmitor National Park, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980, and the Tara basin has been a biosphere reserve since 1977. It is best experienced from the water: a one-day rafting trip usually starts from Brstanovica and ends in Šćepan Polje, passing through a series of rapids, while multi-day trips depart below the bridge at Đurđevića Tara. The season lasts from April to October, and the rapids are strongest in April and May, when the snow melts.
Above the canyon is the bridge at Đurđevića Tara, built from 1937 to 1940, 365 metres long and 172 metres high above the river.
Piva Canyon
The Piva canyon reaches depths of up to about 1,200 metres. Through it, from Plužine towards Šćepan Polje, a road leads with many short tunnels carved into the rock. Along the road is the Mratinje dam, 220 metres high, which impounded the Piva and created Piva Lake, up to 188 metres deep. Because of the flooding of the valley, the Piva Monastery was moved stone by stone to a new location. At Šćepan Polje, the Piva and Tara merge to form the Drina.
Did you know?
During the Second World War, engineer Lazar Jauković, one of the builders of the Đurđevića Tara bridge, helped blow up one of its arches to stop the Italian army. He was later captured and executed on the bridge itself.
Morača and Mrtvica
The main road from Podgorica towards Kolašin passes through the Morača canyon, and the narrowest section, Platije, is famous for its road cut into the cliffs. In a widening of the canyon stands the Morača Monastery from 1252, and below it the Svetigora waterfall drops. At Međuriječje, the Mrtvica flows into the Morača, its canyon having cliffs 600 to 700 metres high. A 6.6-kilometre trail follows the river, crossing bridges and passing through a passage carved into the rock in 1973.
Komarnica and Nevidio
The Komarnica springs beneath Durmitor and flows through a canyon about 40 kilometres long. Its narrowest part is Nevidio, a canyon about 3.5 kilometres long, first traversed in 1965. It can only be passed with guides, in a wetsuit, involving jumps, swimming and descents, taking about four hours. Once you enter, there is no going back the same way. The most demanding section, the Kamikaze Gate, is in places only 25 centimetres wide.
In the south, near Podgorica, the Cijevna creates a canyon on the border with Albania, and near Tuzi its Nijagara cascades are strongest in spring.
