The Rječina Canyon shows how specifically landscape protection is defined in the Municipality of Jelenje: it covers 677.91 hectares within the municipality. Protection measures apply to its aquatic and wetland habitats, as well as significant biological species. In addition, hiking trails, the history of mills and traditional customs offer different ways to discover the area.

Hiking and cycling

The hike.visitjelenje.hr platform offers six hiking trails to Planinarski dom Hahlić, with trail descriptions, photos, video presentations and GPX tracks. Check that the digital materials are available before your hike. One clearly defined loop is Šetnica uz Sušicu: the easy recreational trail runs in a circle for more than two kilometres along Sušica, a tributary of the Rječina. This means trails with Hahlić as their shared destination are complemented by a loop whose length and easy difficulty are specified.

Cycling routes also vary in scale. The municipality’s cycling network comprises nine routes totalling 170 kilometres; check the details before setting out. Individual measurements are provided for the Trnduro route in Jelenje: five stages and five climbs with a combined elevation gain of 1,010 metres over 18.2 kilometres, as well as five descents totalling 6.2 kilometres. These figures give a specific indication of the route profile without reducing the entire cycling selection to a single ride.

Traditions that keep moving

Every year, around 20 creatively designed carts race down a steep descent from Jelenje to the Sušica Bridge at the Grobnička balinjerada. The event has been held in January or February for more than 15 years; the date depends on the length of the carnival season. Check the specific event dates if you would like to experience the race.

In Dražice, the international folklore event “Zakantajmo i zatancajmo po domaći va Jelenju” is part of Mihoja and the Municipality of Jelenje Day. It has been held there for more than two decades; individual performers and dates may vary. Another tradition crosses local boundaries: on the first weekend after Epiphany, the Grobnički dondolaši traditionally parade with their bells through nearly all the settlements of Grobinština, in the municipalities of Jelenje and Čavle.

Mill, exhibition and memorial sites

At Gašparov mlin in Martinovo Selo, the watermill has been grinding wheat and corn using the power of the Rječina for four centuries. There, you can follow how grain becomes a loaf of bread, from the kernel to the finished loaf; buy organic flour; and see historic milling equipment, such as an old sieve. The mill thus combines a long-standing connection to traditional craftsmanship with a tangible insight into the journey from grain to bread.

In Dražice, a permanent exhibition by Margareta Krstić, featuring 15 sculptures, is dedicated to the lives and clothing of our ancestors at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Also there, the Nebeski labirinti consist of nine stone structures connected to the planets and specific meanings according to a special plan. Visitors can walk barefoot over the stones. The Mlikarica monument in Dražice symbolises the Grobnik region and the hardships of life there in the past.

At the memorial cemetery in Soboli, a monument with 91 shields commemorates the residents of Podhum who were killed in July 1942. They are remembered at the memorial site every year. This place of remembrance stands alongside living traditions and cultural discoveries as a distinct part of the history visitors can learn about in the Municipality of Jelenje.

In the wider context: Kvarner Bay

Across the wider Kvarner Bay destination, the Natura 2000 network in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County comprises 111 sites. It covers nearly 75 percent of the county’s land area and 16 percent of its sea area. These figures apply to the county as a whole; the Rječina Canyon is a specific landscape area within the Municipality of Jelenje.

Discover more destinations: Jelenje, Lopača, Dražice, Municipality of Matulji, Municipality of Fužine, Municipality of Rijeka, Vinodol Municipality, Municipality of Čabar.

See the wider travel guide: Kvarner Bay.